Episode 16 Helicopter Heroes

When the people of rural Yorkshire dial 999,

help can be a long time coming.

The Yorkshire Dales are as beautiful as they are big,

but if you're seriously injured in a landscape as gigantic as this,

your life is on the line.

But in the remotest part of Britain's biggest county,

they look to the skies for help.

Look on your left, Matt, can we get in that grass field on your left?

Yes, mate, go for that.

From high drama in the Peaks to high waters in the Dales.

The Helimed team is at the heart of almost every rescue.

Bringing 21st century medicine to some of Britain's

most isolated communities and saving lives against the odds.

Today on Helicopter Heroes, a police horse throws its rider

and now she could be paralysed.

She can't feel anything from her waist down.

I'm going to take her to the trauma centre where all the

neuro stuff is.

The team flies to the rescue of a moorland farmer in trouble.

-I'm so sorry.

-No, don't be sorry.

A half-term trip ends in a serious fall for an eight-year-old.

I was just really upset. I thought it was all my fault.

And a marathon runner is overtaken by a

freak accident on the river bank.

Right, keep your legs going, Andy.

When I wore a blue uniform for a living, there was

one group of coppers you always wanted by your side in a crowd.

There's nothing to beat a police horse

when it comes to preventing trouble,

but the officers who ride them have a dangerous job.

With the average police horse weighing in at nearly a tonne,

mounted cops need a firm hand on the reins.

Mind your backs, please, there's a van coming behind you.

They're highly trained, just like their horses.

And if a good-natured crowd like this one turns nasty,

-they can handle it.

-Up here, we've got a massive advantage.

I can see the doors while people back here can't see the doors.

I can see the traffic coming down.

And when I look around, I can see what's coming the other way.

But enjoying a view like that has its risks.

If you come off, you're going to fall eight feet or more

and that's exactly what's happened today at the West Yorkshire

police training school near Wakefield.

PC Sarah Costello was exercising her horse

when she came off and hit fencing.

-Hello, love, I'm John.

-Sorry.

OK, I'm one of the paramedics on the helicopter,

so we'll take you down to hospital, OK?

-Sorry.

-Have you got any pain, love?

-Just lower back and my left hip.

Her symptoms are worrying, she can't feel anything below her waist.

-Can you feel me touching your arm here?

-I can, yeah.

-Yeah?

-What about round here, can you feel that?

-Very faint.

-Faint?

Sarah's colleagues are understandably concerned.

Sarah's been in the riding school just on a training day

getting prepared for the football this weekend.

Horse was spooked and Sarah's come off, she's fallen off,

she's hit the side of the riding school but obviously,

clearly quite badly.

Right, we'll get you up and onto the stretcher

and then we'll lead you just down to the ambulance.

-OK?

-Ready, steady, lift.

She can't feel anything from the waist down

so we're going to take her to the trauma centre where all the neuro

stuff is, all the spinal stuff, to get sorted out down there.

Paramedic John Baxter knows spinal injuries are a major

risk for horse riders.

Sarah was wearing all the right gear, but nothing can

protect your back from the sort of impact she suffered.

-So you landed on your side?

-Yeah.

-Right, love, you keep your head still, all right?

-Yeah.

-I'll keep hold of you anyway.

-OK.

I'm sorry you've had to come out.

No, it's...don't worry, lovey, don't you worry at all.

-Is your arm OK, is it?

-It's my elbow that hurts.

-I hit the fence with my elbow.

-This side?

-I can't remember.

Ground paramedics decided to call in the Helimed team.

Road ambulances can't match the smooth ride of a helicopter

and in back injuries, that can be crucial.

Keep her flat. Keep going.

Sarah's husband has arrived just in time to see her off.

-See you down there.

-All right. Be careful, drive safely.

She's being flown to Leeds General Infirmary for x-rays and scans.

The injuries were as we expected from what the RRV driver had said.

She has got no sensation from the waist down really.

And she was complaining of some pain in her lower back.

Which would suggest there's probably been some injury to the lower

part of her spine.

She can't feel or move her legs at the minute

but sometimes people get sort of contusions

and bruising to the spine from falls and then, as that settles down,

you get feeling back. So, fingers crossed that's what's happened.

We're going to come out of here onto a stretcher on the roof

and then down the lift into A & E.

-There's going to be a lot of people there...

-All right.

-..asking a lot of questions.

-OK.

-All right?

-All right. Thank you.

-Just bear with them. All right?

-No problem.

Strapped to a rigid spinal stretcher to protect her

from further injury, Sarah's subdued and anxious for news.

Want to take her out of this sleeping bag first?

Ready, steady, move.

Says she's got no sensation from...really, her waist.

Anywhere down here, she can't feel anything.

Both sides, yeah.

She's actually damaged the spine.

It can actually damage the spinal cord, so that would account

for any numbness or loss of sensation from the waist down.

Having said that, she's also quite tender

round her T-spine, which is a bit lower down.

So the team are going to get her off for a scan, assess her

and then they'll know exactly what's going on,

soon as they get the results.

But it could be hours, or even days,

before the extent of the damage to her back can be confirmed.

Spinal injuries are notoriously difficult to diagnose.

We'll be finding out the results of those tests later.

Sheep farmers have shaped the Yorkshire Dales over centuries

and many graze their flocks

in fields first cleared by medieval monks

who pioneered hill farming in these valleys.

Few farms can afford labour -

most are run by one man, or woman, and a dog,

which means that when someone's injured,

it's usually up to the casualty to raise the alarm.

And in winter on the Fells,

exposure can be as big a threat to life as the injury itself.

RADIO COMMUNICATION

We've got a rapid responder on scene,

and apparently, it's the middle of nowhere.

It's quite cold up there,

so we might be of use on this.

The Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team

is on its way to assist the Helimed crew.

More manpower on the hillside will be welcome.

We'll get on that valley, pull that valley feature up...

Goes up to Hebden Bridge.

We know where it is now, with the road below us.

The accident's happened high in the Pennines,

more than 1,000 feet up.

The low cloud and rain that's making the patient's rescue difficult

is also hampering Helimed 99 and its crew.

-Follow that round.

-Yeah.

When you get round there, that'll be Hebden Bridge.

-Yeah.

-Yeah? That's probably going to be the safest way to go, I think.

Finding your way around in bad weather up here is difficult,

and potentially dangerous.

Oh, that's Hebden Bridge there, isn't it?

That's called...Stoodley Pike Monument, that.

I've got it on the map in the back.

-Where's the target from?

-Straight on.

I think that's them underneath that tarpaulin in the field.

I'd reckon so.

Olwen Helliwell was tending her flock

high above her home in the market town of Todmorden,

when she slipped and broke her ankle badly.

A local paramedic in a response car managed to reach Olwen,

but neither medic nor patient is dressed for the weather,

which is now worsening.

Both are soaked through.

PARAMEDIC: Yeah, her ankle is exposed and it does look like it's broken.

The wind is gusting at over 50mph.

It means pilot Garry Brasher daren't shut down the helicopter's engines.

High winds can damage rotor blades as they slow down

and cause injury to anyone underneath them.

We'll get it wrapped and strapped and get her on board as soon as.

-I've given Entonox and it's helped a little bit.

-All right. OK.

The local mountain rescue team is a welcome sight.

The hillside is steep and slippery.

Getting Olwen to the chopper is going to be a difficult task.

-Hiya, love.

-Hiya.

-What's your name?

-Olwen.

-Who, sorry?

-Olwen - I'm taking some of this stuff...

How bad is your pain? Is it bad?

Well, not at the moment, cos I'm sucking this thing.

Not at the moment. OK.

We're going to put a little bit of strapping on your leg and splint it,

then we'll get you on a stretcher and get you off the hill, all right?

OK, yes.

Olwen's leg is badly broken.

It's a spiral fracture - among the most difficult to treat,

and the most painful.

She's desperately in need of more pain relief.

-If I take hold of her leg...

-Yeah.

I can't see an open bit. I'll take the leg, we'll turn it over,

and then we'll splint it, cos I can't really splint it there.

Straighten your leg for me.

Can you straighten your leg, me darling? That's it.

Straw has been piled up around Olwen in an attempt to keep her warm,

but it's not working.

-You all right?

-Yeah. I'm just slightly...

-I'm so sorry, everyone.

-Don't be sorry.

Don't be sorry, it's what we're here for.

I'll just pop that over your head...

Like I say, I were only feeding them!

The local paramedic's job is done.

She, too, is showing signs of hypothermia.

Pilot from Para One, you receiving?

Yeah, I'm making my way back to the aircraft now.

I'll be coming in from the left-hand side.

We'll bring her up in a few more minutes.

We're going to do a hotload, if that's all right.

Happy days.

Paramedic Dave knows loading a patient with rotors running -

a hotload, as they call it -

is fraught with danger.

It's essential the mountain rescue team is properly briefed.

Are you all happy with aircraft procedure?

I'll watch you guys and make sure we go into the aircraft,

-to where Dave is now.

-Yeah.

I'll wait for the thumbs-up off him, we'll go in, we'll hotload her.

Once we've pushed her in,

I will bring you guys back out with this.

Don't come out before that,

or else you'll end up with whiplash, cos I'll grab you.

-All right? Are you all happy with that?

-Excellent.

-Sure?

Olwen came up the hill to feed her sheep.

Now she faces weeks on crutches, if she's lucky,

and then finding someone else to look after her flock.

Coming in now, Garry.

Load it up.

Pilot Garry must trust his crew to make sure this is done safely.

-Here we go.

-Let's go.

Police radio, Helimed 99, over.

Garry's pleased to be off the ground again.

He's heading for shelter in the valley below.

We'll call you when landing.

Olwen's already warming up in the fleece-lined sleeping bag

the team nickname "The Pizza Bag".

And it's time for more painkiller.

I'm going to give her some morphine, en route.

Now, initial dosage, 20mg.

But I'm just going to give her one dose, mate.

They're flying her to hospital in Huddersfield.

It's there that doctors begin the long task

of resetting her shattered ankle.

But their patient is determined that her accident won't stop her

doing the job she loves.

Hill farming is in her blood.

The building trade's statistically

one of the UK's most dangerous industries

and despite the precautions,

working several storeys up will never be completely safe.

Today, Helimed 99's racing to the rescue of another casualty.

We're off to a South Yorkshire place called Mexborough

for a man who's fallen off a ladder from quite a great height.

We've got reports he's got a head injury and he's unresponsive,

a GCS3 on the Glasgow Coma Scale.

A GCS of three is close to death.

We want to be going to a place where they've got neurosurgery,

so for that area, it's looking like Sheffield Northern General.

This case is critical, but landing will be tricky.

Helimed 99 - just for your information,

Dr Pountney's also en route.

He says if you feel patient needs to go, then transport him.

Yeah - roger. Thanks, mate.

I wonder if that school is operational.

What's the time? Ten past three.

-Could be.

-Could well be, couldn't it?

-Yeah.

I'm happy to continue and put it there.

Can't normally land at school, but there's nowhere else suitable.

-I know.

-Unless you want to go over there.

-Yeah, stick it in there, we'll try and get through the garden.

-OK.

Paramedics Andy and Tony must think on their feet.

Reaching their patient in the maze of residential streets

won't be easy.

Can we come over? Ta!

Please.

Then they must think about getting him back to the chopper.

Can we leave that there? Is that all right for now?

Might end up coming through here, if that's all right. Thanks.

Roofer Steve Mason was repairing tiles when the ladder slipped.

Now, he's fighting for his life.

Steve's workmate Les dialled 999.

-PARAMEDIC:

-This is Steve. Come from up here, somewhere.

When I got here first, initially he were face-down, across the wall

with his head here.

-Right.

-GCS3, rest rate were only six.

Cyanosed, clenching.

I had to put nasal airway in, just to maintain his airway at the time.

We managed to turn him over.

He's become a bit more agitated, more combative,

in the last five minutes.

Their patient is displaying the classic symptoms

of a serious head injury.

You say his right pupil's gone as well, yeah?

Yeah, it's very sluggish.

His left pupil is sluggish, his right pupil's dilated.

Swelling in the brain often puts pressure on the optic nerves

and Steve's pupils are not reacting properly.

Yeah, roger, Pete. At present, this patient's GCS of about eight.

If you can leave Andy Pountney running, I think what the plan is

we'll start to move the patient to the aircraft

and then we'll make a decision once we're ready to leave,

whether we need to wait for Andy or not.

A flying doctor is driving to the scene on blue lights.

He'll be able to anaesthetise Steve for his flight to hospital.

This reduces the pressure on the brain

and allows the team to take over his breathing for him.

Steve's a big lad - this is hard work for the ambulance service.

You want to go over this, or...?

Yeah, just slide him on.

-Steady...

-That's catching on there.

That's fine.

Just setting up a kit for Dr Pountney

to do a rapid sequence induction -

basically, it'll put this person to sleep,

so it protects his airway a bit better.

He's quite agitated as well,

so it'll be better for us controlling.

It reduces agitation once he's been put to sleep.

Hi, Andy, how are we doing?

Flying doctor Andy Pountney has arrived to anaesthetise Steve,

but his condition appears to be improving.

His right pupil's blown.

Open your eyes for me, if you can.

Steve! Can you open your eyes?

-Brilliant. Do you know where you are?

-Squeeze my fingers.

OK, patient's doing that, so that's six.

He's a three, which is nine.

And voice, inappropriate words which is three - so a GCS 12.

Even though his condition seems to be improving,

that could be temporary.

He's still in desperate need of hospital treatment.

I'll fly with you, if that's all right.

Seems to be a difficult airway, so I think we'll just fly to Sheffield.

Given that his GCS is coming up, his airway's protected,

his pupil's not fixed and dilated, his resps have come up.

-He's definitely improved.

-Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

Thanks very much, lads.

They're going to fly him direct to the trauma unit in Sheffield.

The odds are stacked against Steve's survival,

and the next few hours will be critical.

We'll be catching up on Steve's case later.

The rolling hills of the Yorkshire Wolds used to be a forgotten corner

of England's biggest county - not any more.

Thanks to artist David Hockney, who's spent almost a decade

capturing their beauty on canvas, there's no shortage of visitors now.

But today, two family outings have ended in a serious accident.

The gentleman in the Focus skidded on some diesel,

coming up towards Scarborough,

and hit the 4X4 in the opposite direction, lost control.

The lady was hanging out the side of the car,

she's hurt her shoulder, neck.

The gentleman thinks he's busted his arm

and the other gentleman's agitated and had a sore neck.

The early indications and evidence at the scene

suggests that there is some contamination on the road surface,

probably diesel or oil,

that has caused one of the cars, the Focus here, to lose control

and then impact with the four-wheel drive.

Helimed 98 must cross some of the highest hills in the Wolds

to reach the casualties.

The only thing you've got to worry about, really,

is the high ground at 700 or thereabouts feet,

that you can see.

Yeah, we're just...had a message from the air desk,

they got the message from police on the scene,

Just making us aware that there's a lot of fuel on the road

where the incident occurred.

It's good of the police just to give us the heads-up that that's there.

Fuel spills are the cause of hundreds of accidents,

and several deaths, each year on the UK's roads

and this one could have been prevented.

It was reported probably about an hour prior to the collision

and the council were en route with something to treat the road.

In conditions where it has been wet

and it mixes with the petrol or diesel or oil on the road,

it becomes like a greasy mess and even underfoot,

it's quite slippery here on the road surface.

OK - 80 foot, about 80 foot. Happy with that?

The accident happened outside the market town of Driffield.

It's a major crossroads on the route from Yorkshire's big cities

to the coast.

-You all right?

-We've got three casualties with two ambulances.

We're dealing with that guy.

This lady's got back pain when she breathes.

She's conscious, SAPS normal when the fire arrived.

This guy's got a fractural dislocation of his left elbow.

It's a mystery as to how the diesel spill happened,

but the crash is on the first bend after a service station.

Complaining of pain in the chest on inhalation.

Sharp, describes it as sharp, stabbing pain.

Have you got a history of irregular heartbeats, sir?

The occupants of both cars are injured, some seriously.

Ground paramedics have been assessing which patient

is most in need of a high-speed flight to hospital.

-I think he's worse.

-Yeah.

-They're all going in what sequence?

Well, they've not found anything life-threatening,

but he's complained of pain down his left side, back pain,

and he just looks more frail, to start off with.

This first car looked a lot more badly damaged,

but I think, now we've had a chance to assess all three patients,

this chap probably looks like the most poorly of the three.

So I think we're going to focus our attentions on this gentleman,

we're probably going to take him.

The lady over there is in quite a bit of pain,

but we've not really found any life-threatening problems.

This chap's a little bit more suspect, so...

We're going to concentrate our efforts, I think.

Two of the casualties will go by road.

The driver of the 4X4 will fly once he's been released,

but first, Tony will give him morphine.

-All right, Tone?

-Yeah...

Diesel fuel isn't actually very flammable,

so the risk of fire isn't as great as it would have been

if this spillage was petrol.

But it's still making it tricky

for firefighters releasing the trapped victims of the crash

to keep their feet.

Rest there, then, rest.

Jimmy, can you take your hands off and we can readjust?

-I'll get where you are.

-All right?

The team's patient is showing some worrying symptoms.

Basically taken an impact down his right side,

so is complaining of right shoulder pain, right chest pain...

The team keep a close eye on the patient

throughout the ten-minute flight to Hull Royal Infirmary,

20 miles away.

Thanks to the traffic chaos caused by the accident,

it's some time before the other victims of the crash

join him in A&E.

Thankfully, all go on to make a good recovery.

It's the half-term holiday,

and Yorkshire's most extreme outdoor climbing centre is very busy.

The Victorians thought Brimham Rocks in Nidderdale

were created by druids.

But this entirely natural adventure playground

still has a magical attraction to children

keen to explore its rocky outcrops.

Some of the strange rock formations reach 30 metres in height -

that's climbing terrain for the experts.

The smaller outcrops can be a simple clamber for the younger adventurers,

but a slip from the top can end tragically.

He went to step and he just fell through the gap

and landed on his back.

We're fairly close to the wind farm, near the hill.

The crew of Helimed 99 has made the journey to the rocks

many times before.

They know the dangers.

We just had reports of an eight-year-old child

that's fallen off the rocks at Brimham Rocks.

It's basically a set of rocks which is quite common amongst climbers,

particularly schoolchildren, go there on trips quite often.

He's fallen about 15 feet onto soft mud,

as far as we're aware.

Obviously it's a substantial sort of height to fall from,

so we're not 100% sure what injuries he's got.

But we were requested, A - for the potential injuries

and B - could be an access problem for ambulance crews as well.

Brimham's rock formations make this a difficult landing site

for pilot Andy Lister.

And today's weather isn't helping.

-Park's down here, cafe's at the top there.

-Yeah.

The landing site I've gone to before

is sort of tucked away in the middle, there.

What about these people down here? They're not them, are they?

They could be - I think I'm seeing the ambulance.

Yeah, roger - I think we've just seen the ambulance, Dave,

so I'll give you a call

once we've found somewhere appropriate to land, over.

That might not be...

-RADIO:

-'Roger. Crew is with the patient.

'No loss of consciousness, GCS 15.

'Fractured ankle...'

Eight-year-old Joel Darnborough's family is in Yorkshire

for a half-term holiday.

-Hi, Joel.

-Hi.

-He's fallen...

from that rock behind you.

All his obs are on there. Home address. No allergies, no meds.

The crew has seen serious head injuries at Brimham Rocks,

and Joel cannot be properly diagnosed until he gets to hospital.

His dad is worried.

-Where's most of your pain now? Your tummy or...?

-Back.

-In your back.

-Is it your lower back?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

When you fell, can you remember everything that happened?

-Sort of.

-Sort of?

-All I can remember is...

-Was he stepping across?

Can you remember whether you fell onto your feet or...?

Joel's sister Amelia was helping him to safely step between two rocks.

It wasn't her fault but she is blaming herself.

I was just really upset.

And I thought it was all my fault.

I think he's probably landed onto his back

but he's complaining of lumber pain and some abdominal pain

and pain to one of his ankles. There's no obvious ankle fracture.

Thousands visit Brimham every year.

Most are able to walk away safely,

but some, like Joel, get carried out

by the local mountain rescue volunteers.

The controller gave me a call because we live quite locally

to find out what was happening because, obviously,

when you've just heard that someone's fallen

you don't know what we're needed for or whether the helicopter's there,

so we were just coming to find out what was happening

and then spoke to the other guys that are on their way from Grassington

in the Land Rover, so there'll be a number of them turning up,

but we've been stood down because he's safely in the ambulance, which is good.

-How are you doing now, Joel?

-I don't feel too bad.

You don't feel too bad? Is that pain bearable?

Uh... Well, I can bear it for another ten minutes.

Paramedic Tony decides Joel can go to nearby Harrogate Hospital

by ambulance. His injuries aren't serious enough

to be flown by helicopter.

Although the patient's disappointed, everyone else is relieved.

Boys and girls do what they do, don't they?

And they play around. Better here than playing on their Xbox.

It's good for them most of the time.

Initially, the crew said his tummy might be a bit painful,

but it's not now. His pelvis seems OK. We can't see

any obvious fractures, his observations have all been normal

so we're happy for him to go to Harrogate

but our normal route is blocked off by buildings so we'd have to get

an ambulance to do a secondary transfer

so it'll be quicker to have the ambulance crew take him.

Joel's holiday was only cut short temporarily.

After a thorough check over in hospital,

he was given the all clear

and allowed to get back to his adventurous holiday in Yorkshire,

with the danger of Brimham Rocks and the great outdoors

being replaced by some safer half-term activities.

And at Helimed headquarters today,

there's a happy ending to another case.

Hello, guys. How are you? What a pleasure to meet you.

Steve Mason spent months in an induced coma

after he fell 30 feet from a roof.

This is a day neither his workmate Les nor paramedics Andy and Tony

thought he'd live to see.

-Thank you very much for everything you've done for me.

-You were pretty poorly, I must admit.

-I gathered that much.

-I'm surprised to see you walking through that door.

-Yeah?

-You've done really well.

-I'm on my way back, thank goodness.

I was in hospital for two, three month.

From what I was told, I was completely out.

I wasn't awake for months,

for a couple of months, so I can only tell you what I can remember.

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure I heard Steve hit the ground.

'If it wasn't for these lads, he probably wouldn't be here today.

'Nobody else could have done what they did,

'so for Steve, and me as well,'

it's nice to be able to say thanks. They've done a great job.

You might find this hard to believe, but I can't remember a single thing

of any nature, which has hassled me for so long,

but now I'm here, I feel much better.

I'd just like to say a marvellous thank you.

Honestly, honestly.

It's a pleasure, mate. That's what we're here for.

It's unlikely Steve will ever be fit enough

to return to his demanding job as a roofer,

but he's convinced that he wouldn't be alive today

if it wasn't for Tony and Andy.

And saving lives like his takes stamina.

From scaling Pennine fells

to hauling patients out of trapped cars, paramedics must be fit.

But exercising in the great outdoors also has its risks,

as the team's about to find out today.

Helimed 99's heading up the River Wharfe

in search of a runner in trouble.

'This chap has tried to get up.

'Apparently, he's dislocated his shoulder.

'Er, he's then fallen down an embankment, er,

'and he's currently resting on a tree 20ft above the ground,

'which is starting to collapse into the river.'

The 999 call from the runner has been traced.

The signal from his mobile phone has allowed the crew

to home in on his position.

Obviously, we're on the river bank here.

So, make sure we've got us life jackets on.

But we're just going to have to wait for some more resources to come.

Floods have caused a landslip, and the steep terrain plunging down to

the deep water that caught out the runner is now proving

treacherous for Leon and Darrel.

Stay up there for a minute, mate, and we'll have a look.

Keen runner Andy Walsh, who was in training for a marathon,

is stuck near the bottom. His shoulder is dislocated.

So you've then tried to climb up here? You've slipped back down.

-Slipped down.

-Believe you've got some pain in your arm.

-I have.

-In your shoulder.

-My shoulder, yeah. I think it's dislocated.

Did you feel a definite pop or did you hear anything?

I had my, erm, headphones on...

Andy has been lucky. He's super-fit.

But if he had gone into the water with a dislocated shoulder,

he may never have got out.

A couple of trees have blown over so, actually, just down behind me here,

the path's blocked off from the fallen trees.

Erm, so he's tried to take a short cut but he's come up

the embankment and slipped and gone over and injured his shoulder.

Darrel! I'm going to have a quick look at his shoulder,

but we need to find out how far heart team are away.

Yeah, I'll give 'em a shout.

Or mountain rescue cos there's no way we're going to get back

out on this path.

Firefighters and a specialist ambulance service rescue squad

have been called to the scene.

The river bank is more dangerous than it looks.

It might be that we can actually, with assistance, walk him up to

the land vehicle, or, depending on how serious the injury is,

we might take him by helicopter to Harrogate,

which is the closest hospital.

These guys treat any incident on the River Wharfe seriously.

Almost every year someone dies after

falling into its unpredictable waters or down its steep banks.

Let you know what we're doing, just securing that point,

-we're going to lower someone down to make an assessment, OK?

-Yeah.

These firefighters are specially trained in using ropes to

reach casualties like Andy.

They're not taking any chances.

-Right, how are you feeling?

-He's all right on his legs.

-Right.

Er, even with the medication, so...

So we'll put a harness on him, and we can attach him to a line.

Yeah, yeah, I think that's probably going to be the best way.

Very, very slippy under foot.

There's a lot of loose trees, erm, that have obviously blown over

in the high winds that we've had over the winter.

So we've got to be very careful not to knock any of these

because obviously if they roll down and hit the casualty or the crew,

er, then we're going to have more injuries

and more people to deal with.

Dislocations are amongst the most painful injuries you can suffer.

Andy's shoulder has leapt completely out of joint.

The tendons and muscles that hold his arm in place are being

stretched almost to breaking point.

If his arm isn't reset soon he could end up with a permanent disability.

We have got a water rescue team as well standing by just in case

the worst case scenario happens

and they do actually fall in the river but that's highly unlikely.

And the long walk up the river bank to safety

is going to be awkward and painful.

All right, Andy. Nice and safe, pal.

Andy, if you lean back into the firefighter rather than...

Yeah, lean back into me, lean back into me.

Lean back, you can do it, lean into me.

Keep your legs pushed out, if you push your legs out.

Andy's used to breaking through the pain barrier

on his long distance runs,

but the agony of his dislocation is a whole new level of discomfort.

One more yard.

Really slippy.

Once we got the lines nice and tight

and we could sit back on the line, we could walk up nice and steady.

But, cos of his arm, he's wanting to grab hold of the rope and he's

not wanting to sit back, so, quite a difficult extrication to be honest.

He's just heading now to the waiting ambulance which is

about 300-400 yards across a muddy field

where he'll get more assessment and probably more pain relief.

We're now rescuing Leon.

We were going to leave him but, er, we felt we'd better not

cos we've got... Might have another job to go to yet.

The team's patient was in training.

The track by the river was one of Andy's favourite routes.

He's unlikely to be coming this way again soon.

I'm doing the Yorkshire Marathon,

but I'm doing some other events in between, some obstacle race events.

Once it's back in place I'll be all right. Get some grippier shoes.

Andy recovers in time to compete in the big local marathon

and gives his sponsorship money to the charity that keeps

the Helimed team in the air.

The paramedics who crew this helicopter

all started their careers driving ordinary ambulances,

and some still do when they're not flying.

But it's reckoned Air Ambulance crews see more serious trauma

in two years than their colleagues

experience in ten years working on the ground.

We're off to a place called Garforth

just on the east side of Leeds

for a man who's been working on a building site.

A piece of metal, it sounds like a flatbed off a truck,

has landed on his lower legs and crushed them.

Got a crew on the scene already, they've requested us

basically for pain relief.

This is the team's third building site incident in as many days.

Paramedic Andy is an army veteran who served in Afghanistan.

Some of the injuries he sees in the construction industry

are almost as serious as those military medics must deal with.

Down there, yeah, that's where I'm thinking.

We're thinking this wasteland in the sort of V shape between the roads?

-It's got brick rubble on it.

-Just below and out to the right, Andy.

-Yeah, to the right.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, there's like a concrete base.

-That's right, yeah.

-Are you going there, yeah?

-Yeah, that's the one.

Helimed 99's touching down on a new estate in the Leeds suburbs.

28-year-old David King is in great pain.

Hello, sir.

Hi, David.

-This here has basically dropped they reckon about two metres.

-Right.

Landed on both legs. It was on its end and it's dropped down like that

and it's come straight down, hit him below the knees.

Ground paramedics have already started treating his leg injuries.

But Andy has brought much more powerful pain killers with him.

His workmates did their best.

Just got on't phone, phoned for t'ambulance, er, went down,

tried to help out.

First aider, but first aid's not going to help on something as, er,

serious as that.

David, pleased to meet you, David.

My name's Sammy and I'm one of the other paramedics

that's taking care of you today.

I promise we're not going to do anything to hurt you deliberately.

-I know.

-We will tell you everything that we're going to do,

and the first thing we're going to do is give you some pain relief, OK?

Yeah.

Andy's going to use a drug that will leave his patient almost pain-free

and with few memories of the next half hour.

It might feel a bit strange, Dave, but just go with it.

Think happy thoughts.

David's cold and frightened.

He lives in County Durham and was working away from home.

Yeah, go for it.

Just want the leg slightly raised and slide it in,

-I'll get rid of that.

-Yeah, shattered everywhere.

-Some weight in that, in't there?

-It's between one and two tonnes.

One or two tonnes, OK.

Construction is second only to farming in the list

of dangerous occupations.

Andy decides his patient's injuries are very serious

but probably not life-threatening.

All right, OK. All right, David?

OK, all right. Keep your eyes open for us.

-Can you still feel me touching your feet, David?

-Yeah!

I've got him there, mate.

The team's going to fly David to Leeds General Infirmary,

but first Andy has to brief its trauma team.

A big metal, like, steel thing has fallen on his lower legs.

He's got crepitus in both legs, he's in a lot of pain,

he's had some ketamine.

We're probably looking at being with you

in about sort of 15 minutes or so.

-You don't know where you are?

-No.

Don't worry, you're just getting in a helicopter, Dave.

You're going to be all right, they're going to take you away

and sort you out down at the LGI, mate.

Now that David's under sedation,

he'll be able to bear the journey to hospital.

His legs are badly broken and he'll be off work for months.

All right, OK, just relax.

'From 99, we've lifted one minute ago.

'ETA to LGI, three minutes, over.'

'RI received.'

His accident is the start of a traumatic week for his parents.

The following day, his sister is involved in a car crash

and is flown to hospital by another Air Ambulance.

Thankfully, both are now on the road to recovery.

In Leeds city centre,

Yorkshire's most popular police officers are back on the beat.

Pleasure. You have a nice day. See you later.

But the mounted section is still missing one of its riders.

It's three weeks since PC Sarah Costello was flown to

hospital after being badly hurt when she was thrown from her horse.

It was feared she was paralysed.

Thankfully she's now back home

and recovering from a phenomenon known as spinal shock.

I couldn't wiggle my fingers, I couldn't wiggle my toes,

and I couldn't actually feel anything, so I was frightened.

Really frightened.

You know, thinking that I might not be able to walk again,

might not be able to run around with my little girl again.

It was a frightening time. Frightening.

Sarah's now undergoing physiotherapy for the after effects

of the accident, which include some numbness and mobility problems.

It was probably about six, seven hours before I managed to

start getting some feeling back into my legs, which was a great relief.

The doctors described it as spinal shock and that nerves

and things like that will just take some time to wake up,

basically, and start working again, so we're hopeful for a full recovery.

And, yes, this police officer is determined that one day,

she will return to the saddle.

I'm very apprehensive about going back on a horse at the moment,

I must admit.

I am a little bit frightened to go back and sit on one

because of what could have happened.

But I don't think you can live your lives

on what could have...could have been.