Episode 20 Helicopter Heroes

If you're critically ill or seriously injured, seconds count

and in Britain's biggest county you can be a long way from help.

-Where's the patient?

-She's stuck under the car.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance flies at 150mph and thanks to its speed

hundreds of patients are alive today, saved by a

highly-skilled team of doctors and paramedics.

-Stand clear, everybody.

-Keep going, mate.

It covers some of the UK's most rugged landscapes,

turning roadsides into operating theatres.

We're going to pop him off to sleep with an emergency anaesthetic, OK?

And town centres into helipads.

-All good on the left.

-Just behind you, Tim.

And everyday the Helimed Team skill, speed and courage

is saving lives.

Today on Helicopter Heroes...

A trucker is trapped and the race is on to save his arm.

I've got vascular and orthopaedics on standby.

I'm just going to get some ketamine to just facilitate getting him out.

There's an unusual accident on the rock face.

She's got like a portion of a hole in her head that's big enough

to put your finger in.

The young cyclist who came off at 25 miles an hour.

He's actually gone over 360 degrees at least twice.

And it's party time for paramedic Sammy.

This young lady, it's her 10th anniversary today.

Landing on a helipad looks easy but it's not.

Leeds General Infirmary is surrounded by cranes and

high buildings, all serious hazards for pilots, and for that reason,

only the most serious cases come here.

It's rush hour in the Pennine town of Elland and a truck

laden with waste paper has overturned. The driver is trapped

inside his cab.

Literally just saw the lorry, the front of it, it just sort of skidded

and then went into the barrier and then the whole vehicle just tippled.

An ambulance was just three vehicles behind the impact.

Its driver is now in the lorry cab,

treating the trucker's badly injured arm. It's almost severed.

-BEEP: 99, Go ahead.

-99, further update.

Apparently the driver is still trapped in the vehicle.

Says there's a lot of blood about but they're trying to page

for a basics doctor.

I'm not sure if there's one en route at the moment. Over.

-I take it this will be LGI then, will it?

-Yeah.

-It sounds like that.

The main roads around Halifax are carved into the landscape.

A ribbon of tarmac cut into the rock is pilot Steve Waudby's only option

as a landing site - and it's tight.

-Right, I'm just going to put us a little bit closer to the left.

-OK.

And then the ambulance can get past us.

All right. I'll get her to stay where she is.

Trauma doctor Andy Lockey lives nearby.

He's already taken control of the driver's care.

-Don't worry, I'm an A&E consultant. I'm here.

-All right, fine.

-Sorry, we don't carry it on at the moment.

-No, this guy has got

a limb-threatening injury at the moment. My gut instinct is to get him scooped

-and run to Huddersfield.

-OK.

-I've got vascular and orthopaedics on standby.

I'm just going to get some ketamine to facilitate getting him out.

Ketamine is the most powerful tranquiliser that can be given

at the roadside - injured driver Keith Mort, now surrounded by

medics, desperately needs it.

-He's basically, he's avulse virtually from there.

-Right.

And they've just got a tourniquet around there at the moment

-that's stopping it from bleeding out.

-OK.

The ambulance driver who stopped Keith bleeding to death in the

minutes following the crash has finally been relieved.

I managed to get into the cab. There was one of the fire officers

in there as well.

Decided to put a tourniquet on him as he was bleeding out a lot,

and decided also to get some oxygen onto him straight away.

And we just took it from there really.

-I'd really like some pain relief in here.

-Yeah, it's coming.

Ketamine's two minutes away.

A specialist ambulance crew trained in urban emergencies is with Keith.

But getting him out of the cab is going to be difficult.

We've got...thankfully within our ambulance service the heart team

that are specialists in extricating. So, although it's unusual for us

not to be in, we are literally just on the perimeter

ready to receive the patient.

The Helimed team is waiting to take over once Keith is freed,

its job will be to get him to surgery as fast as possible.

Our colleagues are taking full control and care of this patient

and as soon as he comes out they'll hand over to us and we'll take him

to Leeds General Infirmary.

The Ketamine works fast. At last the driver can be moved.

Guys, can we have a scissor and just pass it through please.

We need another tourniquet. Michelle?

The extent of Keith's arm injury can now be seen but there's a problem.

Keith, stay down, darling.

Keith has become very agitated

and is having to be calmed down by paramedics.

All right, Keith, love?

It's a side effect of the ketamine.

In this state, they decide it's unsafe for him to go by helicopter.

-Let's get him into Huddersfield.

-Huddersfield? OK.

So, let's get him there and let's get him stabilised there.

From what I understand, the patient's going to be taken by road

to Huddersfield, stabilised and then potentially we're going to be flying

the patient to LGI, which has got surgery and the trauma team

on full standby.

We're just arranging to bring him out from Huddersfield Royal

down to you, so I shouldn't think they'd be too long. Over.

Within minutes of arriving at Huddersfield, Keith is brought back

to the waiting helicopter, sedated and with his anaesthetist in tow.

We're going to convey him to the LGI Hospital which has a

serious trauma ward there, so they'll be able to look after him better.

As Helimed 99 flies East, doctors in Huddersfield are

briefing specialists in Leeds about their patient's condition.

The LGI team knows it's preparing for one of the most

difficult operations a surgeon can face.

Hopefully the vascular surgeon who's here will take him pretty sharpish

to theatre. He needs emergency surgery to have a look at

what damage he's done to his arm and hopefully repair the damage.

Blood vessels, muscles and crucially nerves in Keith's arm

have been devastated by the impact.

In the LGI operating theatre, they must decide if his arm can be saved.

A week later, Keith's results are clear.

When they opened it up he said, "That's quite quilty."

Skin and muscle from everywhere on my body. I just hope it all gels in.

At the moment I look like Popeye on one side and Olive Oyl on the other.

Hi, Keith. I'm the nurse. I'm just going to do your blood pressure

if that's OK.

Keith knows he's lucky to have kept his arm and he faces months

if not years of physiotherapy to regain its use.

But it could have been a lot worse.

I was lucky there was a paramedic

about three vehicles behind me, I believe.

He got in the cab with me and he smashed the windscreen to get at me.

Last thing I heard he was on his radio,

"I need and air ambulance now."

Obviously I thought I'm not going to make it and I blacked out then.

That's it.

On average an air ambulance is scrambled every ten minutes

somewhere in the UK. Highly-trained dispatchers decide which cases

need a helicopter. It may be a cardiac arrest or just a

broken ankle in a remote place but no casualty is routine.

Almscliffe Crag looks like it belongs high on a Pennine Peak.

But this mini mountain is almost in the suburbs of Leeds.

Generations of climbers have learned the ropes on its rock faces.

But today it's the scene of a serious accident.

It's all right, guys. I can see you there. Just down this way.

You all right, guys?

-What's occurred?

-This young lady was coming down this hill

-and she's fallen.

-And what's her name?

-Ann.

-Ann. Hiya, Ann.

-Ann Megan Maude.

-So you know what's happened? You know where you are now?

Ground paramedics have been treating pensioner Ann Maude.

My daughters actually come with Daryl who's a climbing instructor

and they've just been coming here for the morning climbing

on Almscliffe Crag and Grandma had come along to watch.

She decided to walk back down to the car and she just

totally lost her balance and she just fell over and smacked her head.

Loss of consciousness.

OK, left shoulder and she's got a boggy area to the left.

Yeah, well it's about the diameter of a finger.

The bogginess they're describing

is a classic symptom of a skull fracture.

It's a very serious injury.

-All right?

-Yes, love. Thank you.

-We're going to put a little oxygen mask on.

-All right, love. Thank you.

Climbers know Almscliffe's rocks are unforgiving.

Injuries here are common but not on a family day out.

We're going to put you on this board, all right?

Oh, look at that, hey. We nearly got you flat, haven't we?

That's fantastic.

It's been a traumatic experience for three generations

of Ann's family. Her daughter, who's a nurse, realised how serious

her mother's fall had been almost immediately.

I could see that her pupils weren't reacting properly and I just

thought, "Oh, God, don't leave me." She really frightened me.

She really, really frightened me. When it's your family

your mind goes blank. Your emotions take over, but then a bit of

adrenaline kicked in and you kind of think, "Right, OK, what do I need to

"do to try and keep her safe."

Let's put this big rucksack under her toes

and it will level her up a little bit.

-So we're just lifting her feet up.

-Yeah, and then we'll slide her up

and put her straight on.

Paramedic Sammy wants to protect Ann from further injury.

Her head wound and the rocks underfoot suggest the fall

could also have given her a back injury. So the team will carefully

strap Ann into a spinal stretcher.

It does feel a bit restricting, Ann, but because we've got to

lift you, darling. All right. We don't want you slipping off.

How's your headache? And how's your shoulder?

Your shoulder's quite comfortable now you're on the board.

She's doing really well to say they think she's got like a portion of a

hole in her head that's big enough to put your finger in - not that

we do that - and we're going to take her to Leeds General Infirmary.

I'm going to reposition the aircraft and then we can

get you down. We're going to put it down at the bottom cos it's

-easier to lift you down, all right.

-Thank you.

Mark's starting up. I'm going to come down. I'm going to marshal him

into a rather small spot - not tight - just small, but mountain rescue

are already really busy. They can send us two members of staff in about

an hour and a half, so we're going to use the members of public to help us.

It will be quicker.

Pilot Mark Griffiths is about to attempt a tricky landing

on the slopes of one of Yorkshire's best-known landmarks,

with a little help from Sammy.

Mark's highly experienced. He's been a personal pilot to celebrities

like footballer Michael Owen. But no landing's been more

important than this one. Ann's life could depend on it.

Thanks to Mark's skill, Helimed 99 is down.

OK then, so who have we got to help?

Gentlemen, are you all right to help us?

It takes a lot to put Yorkshire's climbers

off the next hand hold but with mountain rescue too far away,

volunteers are needed to help carry Ann to the chopper.

Ready, steady, lift. Up we go.

-Watch that bag.

-Yeah, got it.

-We're going down now, a step down.

-Yeah, got it.

Bring her toes towards the stretcher and the head come

all the way around towards the wall.

In a few minutes their patient will be airborne for the

Leeds General Infirmary - little more than five minutes away.

Just the same as before, I want to put a little probe on your finger.

Fabulous, thank you for volunteering.

She's currently GCS 15. She has been knocked out for about two minutes

according to witnesses.

While the rest of the family follow by road, the team will be carefully

monitoring Ann's condition during the flight into the heart of Leeds.

The soft spot in Ann's skull is worrying but it won't be known

how serious her injury is until she's undergone X-rays and scans.

Luckily, doctors find that Ann's skull isn't fractured

but nurses have to glue her scalp back together using

special medical adhesive. She's kept in overnight but allowed to go home

the following morning to continue her recovery.

And a month later, Ann is back on her feet and keen to

watch her granddaughter climbing at her local leisure centre.

We had a lovely day sat there watching, but I wasn't happy about

walking on the stones

and I'd only gone a few steps and down I went.

It was quite frightening for me cos I really did truly believe that

I was going to lose her. I really did.

Up, up slightly. Not that one.

Ben said to me husband when it happened,

"I think she a goner, Granddad."

But he's denied it, but my husband told me that he'd said that.

Ann's daughter Caroline is well aware that things could have been

-more serious.

-If that had been a raised stone today, I don't know...

Who knows what would've happened. She's just a very lucky lady to come

out with a glued head.

You like to watch what your grandchildren do, don't you?

But she's told me I'm not to go watch her when she's

climbing outside. I've been banned.

Air Ambulance pilots spend a lot of time thinking about weight.

Every person or item carried limits the amount of fuel he or she

can put in the tank, and that reduces the distance

the chopper can fly.

And that means when a patient is critically ill, the person in the

cockpit is under as much pressure as the paramedics.

SPEAKS ON RADIO: ...departing north east.

Andy Lister used to fly for the Navy, landing on the pitching decks

of ships at sea. Today he has a full tank containing a thousand pounds of

fuel and a full team of paramedics. He knows that if the landing site is

small that could add up to a very big problem.

-RADIO:

-For your information the FRB has just arrived on scene

with this patient.

The team's heading for the hills above Middlesbrough.

We're going to an 11-year-old boy who's come off a bike and must have

fallen with a head injury and we believe has got some fractured ribs.

-Is anyone actually with him?

-Yeah, the RRV has gone to him.

Well, that's what they're saying. The RV, but whether or not the RV's

-actually got to the scene and walked.

-I think they maybe walked from the

-car to the scene.

-This is where the grid is though. Right underneath

us now. Oh, there they are! They're right underneath the wires.

There's a small, flat area on the hillside.

It's big enough for the chopper but landing here means

avoiding trees and wires.

-Over the wires now, and I'm going to come down...

-Even that field there

-has got a hell of a slope on it.

-I know.

Another mathematical problem is now facing Andy. The chopper can only

land on slopes of less than 12 degrees. Any more and it could

tip over. This slope looks steep.

-OK, about five degrees.

-Is that all that is?

-Five degrees, nose up.

He's found the only patch of almost level ground on the hillside.

A fire-fighter will lead them through the woods to the patient.

I assume he fell off coming down.

But the steep climb's taking it's toll on paramedic John.

Only an idiot would come up here.

Eventually they make it through the woods

and to 14-year-old Liam Guest.

Hello. Hiya.

-Hello there.

-Hello. Are you from the air ambulance?

-I am.

-All right.

Hiya, Mum.

Judging by the state of Liam's bike, he could have a very serious injury.

I was speaking to witnesses here and it's been estimated that he's come

down and he's hit this gulley in the centre of the path here and has

actually gone over 360 degrees at least twice. Obviously landing in one

of the gullies that you see here.

-Liam, how bad is the pain?

-It's got a bit better since you gave me the

-pain relief.

-So since you've had the pain relief, OK.

It was proper stinging on top of my head and the left side of my back.

OK, where's the pain the worst, mate?

The police and the fire service have looked after Liam so far

but getting him off this hillside will require the specialist skills

only a mountain rescue team can provide.

-We'll help you carry him down if you want us to do that.

-No, no.

It's quite a long way so we'll do what they... They're the experts

at these things, so...

This area is very popular with local children.

Liam's accident has brought home the dangers of cycling down a slope

as steep as this.

I was just walking down and I've seen a young lad come up here and

he's been flapping and all that

and they've said his mate's smashed his head in.

But if you just bolt down there, you come 50 mile an hour and you're

going to come off, aren't you? And hurt yourself, so...

-Right, grab his arm there. All right.

-I hope it's not a needle.

No, it's not a needle, mate.

Liam wasn't wearing a helmet.

He had a nasty gash at the back of his head. Keep dressings on there,

keep pressure on there. Keep him calm and keep him warm ultimately.

I had to take off my stab vest to help keep him warm.

Right, Liam, if you're having any problems when you're being

moved down shout out, all right. If it starts to hurt or you feel real

-funny, tell us straight away.

-There'll be someone walking next to

-your head all the time.

-How's the pain now?

-Sound.

-Sound(!)

THEY LAUGH

Sound will do for me.

The head wound is worrying as is the fact he claims to have blacked out

after his fall. Getting him down the hillside involves teamwork.

The biggest mountain rescue team I've ever seen this.

It's a nice example actually of all the services working in harmony

with each other. And absolute co-operation which has been working

very well indeed.

Liam's about to take off for the James Cook trauma centre just up

the road in Middlesbrough.

For pilot Andy, this is a milk run. Over the next few hours

his patient is X-rayed and scanned and doctors discover he's escaped

his spectacular crash with just cuts and bruises.

And a few days later he's back home - with a confession.

The bike he was riding had no brakes.

I swapped my bike with my mate cos I was better on his bike and he was

better on my bike, but his bike didn't have no brakes, so I was

flying down this bank, my bars just loosened up, went forwards

and I just went over the handle bars, done about six somersaults,

cracked me head open.

Liam no longer owns a bike, so it's unlikely this downhill racer will

repeat his lucky escape.

The summer of 2012 will go down in history as one of the most

action packed for years. The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics

and the Paralympics all had millions of us enjoying the drama,

and it kept the Helimed team busy too.

If Yorkshire was an Olympic nation, it would have finished 12th

in the medal table - ahead of Spain, New Zealand, Brazil

and even Usain Bolt's Jamaica.

It's Jessica Ennis!

CROWD CHEER

So it's not surprising sporting cities like Sheffield put

the flags out for local heroes like Jess Ennis.

I'm literally lost for words to see this gold plaque...

It's success like hers that has inspiring future Olympians

across the country. But the path to sporting excellence can be

a rocky one, especially in sports like show jumping when you must rely

on an animal to deliver medals.

-Got the response car.

-Yeah.

-I'll go for that. See where the orange

thing is top right corner, as we look back at it,

we'll land in that field, mate. I'm assuming that's where they are.

-Hi, Claire.

-She's had a horse basically stood on her foot

-and she's fallen backwards.

-Right.

-The horse definitely hasn't fallen

upon her but she fell awkwardly and now she's complaining of pain in

her back. She's had five milligrams of morphine off me so far.

That was about five minutes ago.

The horse basically stood on her foot and barged into her.

She just fell over, hit her back on the floor and banged her head.

So she's got back pain and obviously a sore head.

-So is this horse normally well-behaved then?

-No.

-Is it not?

Just heard her scream and a young boy came round and said,

"Claire's on the floor." And we ran round, the horse had stood on her

which... and shifted over. She's on the floor. We made her stay where

she were cos she was trying to get up, but fingers crossed

she'll be all right.

Clare Stansill is certainly not a novice. The show jumping event

she was heading to today was the same one she won last year

and the year before. But this time it seems Caddy will be staying

in her stable, while Claire is prepared for a flight to hospital.

What we're going to do... I'm going to stay ready, steady and then move.

So we'll go on the "move" bit and let's try keep her as straight as

we can and just relax and it's a nice, steady movement, OK?

It's a show day so anything can happen with them.

They usually get excited when it's show day anyway, so...

She was going to be competing but not anymore, obviously.

She's going for a nice fly instead.

It's precautionary going through with that. Because we've not got any

weakness, pins and needles anywhere, I'm quite happy it's just that

-central pain.

-It stood on her foot and it's pushed her back and she's

fallen back awkwardly. She's got a lot of pain in her back.

The main reason we're getting the helicopter out is as you can see

the track to it is just all over the place. They asked the ambulance

not to come down. I could barely get down in the response car, so it's

going to be too bumpy for her to get out basically,

so we requested the air ambulance.

-You can move everything.

-Yeah.

-Move your hands for me.

-Great stuff. Can you feel me touching your hands there?

-Yeah.

-What about this one?

-Yeah.

-OK, and just wiggle your toes for me.

-Have you a high arch on your foot?

-Yeah.

Right now Claire should be defending her horse show title,

but instead she's here at the regional trauma centre.

For now her Olympic dream is on hold.

After a series of tests and scans, Clare gets some good news.

Her back has been badly bruised, but there's no serious damage.

And the whole thing hasn't put her off - she's already vowed to be back

at next year's show to regain her equestrian title.

-TV:

-And we would expect a sprint to come from Vicky...

At air ambulance headquarters a team of dedicated armchair Olympians is

on stand by, waiting for a call out.

Britain's Olympic rowers won nine medals including four golds in

this summer's golden regatta but to get to this point requires years

of dedicated training.

Helimed 99 has been called out to help an Olympic rowing hopeful

who's badly injured but this rower's on dry land.

We're in the York City Rowing Club, so it's kind of the end of season now

and we're just keeping fit going out on bikes.

Can I get you to come to top end? Just hold his head nice and still

for me. Just for a minute, just while we have a proper assessment.

So just get yourself comfy. Sit yourself down.

23-year-old Nick Bartlett's is a top oarsmen, competing at the

highest level - with Olympic dreams.

Lift this leg up in the air for me. Good job. Stop me pushing it down.

Good lad. Stop me pushing it down. All right. That's it. Good lad.

-On this one, same again.

-Ooh, my hip!

-This side?

-Yeah.

Does it just feel like the graze or does it actually feel like the hip?

-I just feel a bit bruised.

-OK, no worries.

-He was just going over

that jump into the air and his front wheel went down so basically he went

right over the handlebars. His feet were clipped in as well, so he was

connected to the bike. He just went straight down onto his arm and hip.

I went off the table top stupidly fast, head over heels, stuck my arm

-out to land my fall...

-Yeah, and just snapped it.

Were you knocked out at all?

His rowing arm is shattered but Paramedic James is worried about a

potential head injury, his patient's cycling helmet is badly damaged.

One, two, three roll.

What we'll do is we'll just go down and then up. If someone could

just hold the... If you could just hold this green board at the top

here, mate, so it doesn't move. That's great. Is the bike all right?

Yeah, the bikes fine. Yeah, I'm quite chuffed with that actually.

He also had a bang to his head and you can see from the damage to the

helmet... It's fallen to pieces now, but there is a chance he's

done something to his head but hopefully not because he's

acting normally, talking normally, fully conscious.

So, we're hopeful it's just his arm.

Neil's being flown from the heart of Dalby Forest

to York Hospital. On the way, it's clear Britain's putting out the

flags for its summer of sporting glory.

-Big massive Union Jacks flying in the caravan park.

-We'd have gone to

-attention if you'd have said.

-He's saluting.

Neil's chances of glory are in the balance.

So if you just get it level with us so we can come either side.

I'll never complain when I'm doing sport again.

His injury would be serious for any patient.

For an athlete with Olympic dreams, the results of tests in the next

hour will be critical to his future.

Cut in two by the River Ouse, York's a rowing city

and these waters have been a training area for many champions.

Sadly Neil is now unlikely to be among them.

We always go to Henley with the university which is sort of the

Royal Regatta in July and had I not broken my arm I'd like to have

been competing there.

His arm injury was very serious. It's is now healed

but it's simply not strong enough to withstand the punishment

competition rowers must endure.

Everyone wants to get to that place, that Olympic level.

I'd never say rule anything out. I always think you can hope

and carry on and try and be the best you can be

but I'll never find that out now probably.

There's one break here where there's a metal plate down here and that

was the initial scar and then on the top bone there was a break there,

there, there and then it was split down the middle as well, so it

split across like that. I got into hospital. They did an X-ray,

they said, "Two breaks and a fracture." I was like, "Oh, that's

"not too bad, that's not that bad." Then they took me into surgery,

plated it, pinned it, set it all back up and I woke up the next morning

and they said, "You've actually got seven breaks."

I'll carry on rowing cos I know I can. My recovery's been quite good

in terms of movement and I haven't really needed any physio

cos it's all there.

So it's just a case now of this next year, trying to get back into the

swing of things. It's just whether I can get to the same level of fitness.

Helimed headquarters may be 200 miles from London 2012,

but today's crew is about to experience a dose of Olympic fever.

The flight arriving at the VIP terminal this morning is carrying

the Brownlee brothers home, fresh from their Gold and Bronze

in the triathlon.

I believe the pilot who's flying both the brothers up from London is one

of our pilots we use here at the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, so it's

always nice to know somebody who's involved with

such a prestigious event.

The lads live just down the road from the airbase.

-Hey, Alistair, congratulations. How are you doing?

-Well, I hope I

never do meet you again. I probably will at some point, knowing my life.

-Nice to meet you.

-Yeah, nice to meet you.

-I thought you'd be flying in.

-Did Chris not let you?

-I wanted to. I wanted to but he wouldn't let me

-touch anything.

-No?

-Not even any buttons.

I said, "Is there none that won't do any difference?"

but he wouldn't let me touch anything, so...

-Good in the front seat though.

-Yeah, it's brilliant.

The views and everything, it's amazing.

Team GB's footballers couldn't match the Brownlee brothers'

medal haul but on the other side of the city some armchair fans

are trying to get in on the soccer action.

We've got a request from a crew that are on scene at an incident where

I don't know if it's a football match but where a footballer's sustained

an injury which they're querying is a dislocation to the hip which is a

very painful injury if that's what's occurred.

It's just down there where these football pitches are or thereabouts.

Quite a crowd has gathered but this is no Premiership match.

It's actually a parents' tournament for the children's football team

so they never manage to hurt themselves, it's just the parents that do.

And it's not the star striker whose on the ground in agony.

It's the team manager of the Colton under 10s,

champions of the Garforth League in Leeds.

He was running for the ball and he just fell over.

When it's come out before, how easy has it gone back in afterwards?

We're talking sort of five or six year ago and I sort of just

pushed it back in, held it and...

The hip is like a shock absorber and under pressure

it can jump out of joint.

Were you actually tackled or were you going to kick ball as it happened?

-I just tripped up running.

-Did you? So it weren't even glory moment

-or anything? Putting ball in the net.

-I was near the score line but...

Bill Owen got hurt in a dad's versus lad's kick about,

always fiercely competitive games.

You don't run one at sides do you as well?

How many of them are across here then giving you grief now?

Oh, I'd hate to think... A lot.

Paramedic Pete is a keen footballer himself and knows a thing or two

about painful soccer injuries.

I took some up from under 9s to under 18s and I won't go back

and do it again now.

The thing is with it you've got a lot of powerful muscles as well and if

it has popped out that they're all pulling against to try and keep it

where it is.

Bill's injury is holding up play and the crowd are getting restless,

but the paramedics must take great care.

To lift you up we'll get a school stretcher they call it. It splits

into two bits, it goes either side of you, then we can lift you up on there

and the guys I'm sure will just pad you up so that stays in the

position it's in. Are you going to leave him on there

or just lift him on there?

Premier league players often fly to America for treatment to their legs.

Not this patient.

He'll be going by road.

Have you got new boots out for it an all?

Bill isn't going to be taking training for some time.

His hip turns out to be broken and his footballing efforts in vain.

With their solid central defender being carried off on a stretcher

the dad's team go on to lose their match.

The people who didn't enjoy summer

quite as much as the rest of us there

but they're all now on the mend.

This is not an easy place to fly. During a Yorkshire winter, peaks

like this can be shrouded in cloud two days out of three, so for the

Helimed pilots the weather forecast can be a matter of life and death.

But poor weather can allow a few lighter moments at the airbase.

Today it's time to celebrate.

It's the tenth anniversary of flying paramedic Sammy Wills's

first mission. And the Helimed team's medical director,

Dr Alison Walker has turned up with the cake.

It's not long before Sammy's adding to her long list

of rescue missions.

The team's heading to the hills above the Dales town of Grassington.

It does make me feel quite heart warmed. I'm sorry, don't cry.

It may be ten years since her first scramble but for Sammy,

every mission's still exciting.

Absolutely still love it and I'm glad that I still feel the same

enthusiasm and excitement as I did when I first flew.

Sammy and Alison have seen air ambulances develop from an

expensive novelty into an essential part of a modern emergency service.

It's going to remote locations that makes you realise the value

of an air ambulance. Not only for the life-threatening calls that we go

to, but also for the fantastic Yorkshire scenery and some

other areas that we have to go to where things aren't life threatening

but it means that we can improve the quality of care for patients

in remote areas as well.

I've just been speaking to the caller to work out where they are.

They say they're south, walking towards the real stone cross.

All right, I've got a group of three and somebody laying down at

my three o'clock.

-White T-shirt and a red T-shirt.

-Is it clear that side there, John?

Yeah, you're good here.

Sammy's been flying so long she's now a minor celebrity in the Dales.

-I'm Sammy. What's yours?

-I've seen them on telly.

-No way!

-Air ambulance.

-You're absolutely right.

Barry Smith and his walking mates were nearly 2,000 feet up,

halfway through an 11-mile trek, when he slipped

and snapped his ankle.

-You heard it crack. Have you ever hurt that leg before?

-No.

-Did you bang your head at all?

-No.

Barry is a regular on the fells.

These veteran ramblers love the hills.

Baz is in front, he's our leader - team leader like - and he stumbled

and he fell in there and heard a crack. I thought it was his

walking pole that snapped but he ain't got one.

But I've been down to have a look at his foot and the left leg is on

but his front is as if it's gone the other side. He said... He thinks

his leg's broken. His foot's gone.

-Can you wiggle your toes?

-No, not at all, no.

-Is that cos it hurts

-too much or cos they just don't wiggle.

-Both.

-Both!

Barry's injury is very painful but gas and air should help.

My colleague has just gone to get you some pain relieving gas.

-Have you had gas and air before?

-No.

It's what we give ladies when they're having babies.

-You can now have empathy with them.

-Yeah, it's good stuff.

Everyone seems to know about the Helimed team's latest landmark.

This young lady, it's her tenth anniversary today.

If you take the boot first, I'll do the sock.

It's obvious Barry's ankle is broken.

And if you cut the boot we'll go and buy another left boot for him.

THEY LAUGH

They sell left boots at Clarkies, don't they!

THEY CHUCKLE

Sammy and paramedic John Baxter are going to have to straighten it.

For Barry it will be a painful operation.

Good lad. Keep breathing. Well done. It's just off your toes now.

So painful, he passes out.

-Barry?

-Barry!

-He's out.

-Is he supposed to do that?

-No, it's just the pain.

BARRY GROANS

Good lad, Barry. Stay still, lad. Stay still, Barry. Well done.

You're in a nice straight line now. Yeah.

Did we lose you for a minute there?

What I need to do is we want to stand you up on your good leg and

just get you onto our stretcher.

In her ten years as a flying paramedic,

Sammy's never had a patient serenaded before - until now.

# That's life. That's what all the people say... #

It's going to take all Barry's mates to get him to Helimed 99.

-How many bacon butties did you have this morning?

-It's around this way.

-I promise I'll lose weight after this.

-Woops! It sinks in there.

Dr Alison's preparing more pain killers. She's going to give Barry

some morphine to ensure his flight in Helimed 99 is more comfortable.

-Keep your arms in, Baz. Keep your arms in.

-Get you some morphine

and get rid of this pain for you, OK.

Well done. Then we'll get the door shut and get us warmed up a bit.

Barry's in a lot of discomfort but his mates are trying

to keep the atmosphere light.

-Baz, we're going for lunch now.

-All right, lads.

We're going for lunch cos you're only down the road there.

We'll have lunch and we'll see you after.

If there's anything left we'll bring it.

Ten years ago, Sammy was a fledgling. Now she's one of the

team's most experienced members. John's one of the newest.

I think it's seen as an achievement really for Sammy to last that long.

It's... I don't think I'll be here in ten years. I'm sure by that time

I'll have upset enough people to not be on.

One thing that hasn't changed in the years Sammy's been flying

is the safety drill. She's probably heard these words

a thousand times.

-Clear doors - locked.

-It says locking the rear.

Sammy's anniversary patient is flown to Airedale hospital for treatment.

It turns out he'll need extensive surgery.

I broke my fib and my tib. It's a diagonal break which means

it's not straight forward. Also they told me I broke my foot as well.

Which means I'm going to have to have it pinned, screwed and plated and

I'm not looking forward to that. I don't know how the lads are going

to manage without me.

If laughter is what the doctor ordered, Barry's in for an overdose.

-Good to see you, pal.

-Good to see you.

Several of his rambling mates are here to cheer him up.

And they model themselves on another bunch of veteran Yorkshiremen.

We're all big fans of The Last Of The Summer Wine - Compo, Cleggy, Foggy

and the rest of them and we have been compared to them. Well, three of us

anyway. Me being the big, tall gormless one which is Foggy.

And the woman whose anniversary cake was interrupted by Barry's fall

is determined he's not going to be her last patient.

For Sammy, the first ten years in the air are just the beginning.

It's the best job in the world and job satisfaction doesn't get

any better than this.

Being able to help people on the worst day of their lives often

is a privilege and an honour.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd