- 9 hours ago
Ambulance - Season 16 - Episode 02: The Last Holiday
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TVTranscript
00:00New incident, category one.
00:03Put you on an RTC, two cars head on.
00:08This lady has been on the floor since 5am.
00:11It's a two-year-old who's been stabbed, Dougher.
00:15Every day across Yorkshire, more than 3,000 people call 999.
00:20They've just no breathing.
00:22She's pregnant.
00:23Right, she's pregnant.
00:24We've tried to borrow petrol load gases.
00:26The ambulance service must decide who gets help.
00:31We're going to look after you, mate.
00:32We've got you.
00:34Can I get you covered up? Lovely, lovely.
00:36And who must wait.
00:3834 jobs waiting for an ambulance now in Leeds alone.
00:42As the pressure on the NHS refuses to relent...
00:45We're creating the waiting room for a waiting room.
00:48..the paramedics on the ground navigate England's largest county.
00:52Welcome to our office.
00:54All right, well done.
00:56From the busiest cities...
00:57Chaos tonight.
00:59We'll need to get out of Leeds now.
01:01..to the remotest villages...
01:03We're in the forest, in the middle of nowhere.
01:05..where each call is a crisis...
01:08Got a five-year-old found wandering in the street, naked, malnourished.
01:12God, it breaks your heart. It's awful.
01:14..and every decision critical.
01:16Hello! Where are we going?
01:18You're all right.
01:18Please, let the kids out of there.
01:20Where are they going to land in the middle of Bradford?
01:23We go beyond the flashing blue lights...
01:27..to reveal the human stories behind every siren.
01:31Just keep it going to do it.
01:32Absolutely.
01:33Thank you for coming.
01:35You don't have to thank us.
01:36You do.
01:37You've got manners, you do.
01:39Are we all ready to set sail?
01:41Get her going.
01:42Get her going.
02:05What part of the body is injured?
02:12Help is coming as quick as it can.
02:14Is he awake now?
02:19Now, I'm going to tell you how to stop the bleeding.
02:22So I need you to get a clean, dry cloth or towel.
02:25So place it right on the wound and press down firmly.
02:29It's three hours into the bank holiday weekend
02:32for Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
02:34So far, the team have received 489 emergency calls.
02:41Ambulance is patient breathing.
02:42There is a new call being answered every 20 seconds.
02:46I am organising help.
02:49What's the address of your emergency, please?
02:51Do you know how long the ambulance is going to be?
02:53In that area, we've seen delays of about up to the next half an hour.
02:56It's ridiculous.
02:58I've got somebody who's bleeding out in my garden
02:59and you're not doing nothing about it.
03:02The help is coming as quick as it can.
03:05It's a 58-year-old male
03:06who has incorrectly used a chainsaw.
03:10Major bleeding.
03:14So with that pressure on,
03:15is it still spurting or pouring out?
03:17Still bleeding.
03:18Just bear me one minute.
03:19I'm just checking something with a colleague.
03:20I'm still here.
03:22You're saying it's still serious bleeding?
03:24Yeah, so make sure they've still got it on
03:25because they need to cut off that blood supply.
03:29If required, hems have blood on today.
03:33So if he keeps bleeding,
03:34keep firm, steady pressure on the wound.
03:37There is two men putting firm, steady pressure on it.
03:41You're probably not pressing hard enough.
03:42We are pressing hard enough.
03:44Do you want to come and do it?
03:46The ambulance should be arriving very shortly.
03:49Yeah, see, I can hear the silence.
03:51Across the region,
03:53there are currently 55 patients waiting for an ambulance.
03:5713.40, thank you.
03:59A patient's been on the floor,
04:00but we don't know how long for.
04:03Working in control is dispatcher Tracy.
04:0613.40, thank you very much for that.
04:07She is supported by Laura...
04:0916.71, just to update on this detail.
04:13..and Kyle.
04:1416.92, pass your update when you're ready, over.
04:18Workload this morning has been really busy from 6am,
04:21so we are just struggling a bit.
04:24Tracy oversees ambulance resources across coastal Yorkshire,
04:28including Scarborough,
04:29a seaside town with just five ambulances on shift
04:33for a population of 108,000.
04:37With demand rising elsewhere,
04:39all her crews have been sent out of the area,
04:42leaving Scarborough without cover.
04:4816.92.
04:49Just to say you're clear to head back.
04:51Thank you for that. Control out.
04:53BEEPING
04:5416.92, paramedic Curtis and ambulance practitioner James
04:59are the furthest from base at York Hospital.
05:02It might take us a while.
05:03Yeah, we are a bit of a track.
05:07They face a 40-mile journey back to Scarborough,
05:10battling bank holiday traffic.
05:13I don't think I'll be able to be a controller.
05:15The head has to be in multiple places, doesn't it?
05:18We have one patient at a time,
05:20whereas they've got multiple resources
05:22all on a screen in front of them
05:23that they've got to try and juggle.
05:25Get cat one.
05:26Oh, cat one.
05:27Voice accept.
05:30999.
05:32Curtis and James are immediately dispatched
05:34to the Category 1 emergency,
05:36the most time-critical.
05:39Chalking.
05:41Please hurry up.
05:42I haven't got the ambulance in the rain.
05:43OK, thank you.
05:45I'm just giving her some porridge and she's choking.
05:47Are you able to stay where they're in to help?
05:49I'm with her right now.
05:51But their lifts are going blue.
05:5324 miles?
05:55We're joking.
05:58OK, is there going to be anybody any closer
06:00if you do a shout-out?
06:02The patient lives within a 171-square-mile triangle
06:07in rural North Yorkshire,
06:09where there are no ambulance stations.
06:12Curtis and James are 35 minutes away,
06:16five times the life-saving target response time
06:19of seven minutes.
06:231692.
06:24I know we've allocated from a distance on this one.
06:26Unfortunately, you are the closest crew.
06:30Do you want me to ring Heliumaid and make them aware?
06:33Yeah, if you don't mind.
06:41I need you to encourage her to cough, OK?
06:44Yeah, I'm trying to.
06:45But...
06:48They're engaged.
06:50You have a sharp bump between her shoulder blades
06:53with the heel of your hand.
06:55Cough it up.
06:56Keep going.
06:57Keep coughing it up.
06:58Come on.
07:01I'm here.
07:01You are far from hospitals,
07:04far from ambulances.
07:06You've got Heliumaid,
07:07but if they're busy like they are now...
07:09You're in trouble.
07:10You're in big trouble.
07:12The ETA for this has gone up to 44 minutes now.
07:17Oh, my God, is that another catwalk?
07:21Just to confirm, is he breathing?
07:23Yeah, he's breathing, but he's unconscious.
07:26He's on the floor bleeding.
07:27In Hull, 45 miles away from the choking incident,
07:31a new Category 1 call is in progress.
07:34Tell me, is that what's happened?
07:36I think he's given them a ticket
07:38and the dude got out of his car
07:39and he had to punch him.
07:42Why is there so many people?
07:44Like, I get it's a nice day,
07:46but why are you off here?
07:48Go to the beach.
07:50New incident, Category 1.
07:53Traffic warden has been assaulted,
07:54bleeding on the floor.
07:56Voice accept.
08:011707 paramedic Gretel
08:02and ambulance support worker Alicia
08:05are the nearest crew to the patient.
08:07They are a mile away.
08:111707.
08:12We've got a patient that's been assaulted.
08:1450-year-old male traffic warden.
08:17Is the attacker still nearby?
08:20No, he's breathing the car.
08:22Is there any serious bleeding?
08:24Yes, he's bleeding from his mouth.
08:26It's just pouring out.
08:28That's not just a punch in the face, though.
08:30That's serious.
08:30He's going to be really poorly.
08:34Are there with you?
08:35Yeah, just to type it down the street now.
08:44Information from the police
08:45is that they're on scene as well.
08:46Over.
08:48We're on scene.
08:49I'll give you an update in a minute.
08:51Roger, I see.
08:53Oh, shit.
08:53This is serious.
08:55Yeah.
08:55Do you want to get suction?
08:56Yeah.
08:58Just an update from team.
08:59Can you please get quick care?
09:00Seems like a pretty significant trauma.
09:03Roger, yeah, that's an affirmative.
09:041707.
09:05I'll get quick care.
09:07Do you know this guy?
09:09No.
09:10Did anyone see this happen?
09:11Yeah.
09:11It was squaring up.
09:13What was he hit with?
09:14This.
09:16Centre of the face or somewhere else?
09:18And one hit?
09:19Yeah.
09:24Specialist paramedic Siobhan
09:26has just cleared from her second patient of the day
09:29and is immediately dispatched to support the crew on scene.
09:33Sorry I'm keeping it so busy, Siobhan.
09:34Patient is an unconscious trauma
09:36following an assault.
09:38Permanent ETI.
09:40Yeah, Roger.
09:40That's all understood.
09:44We'll reassess GCS on the ambulance.
09:48Oh, something.
09:49Hey, Av.
09:51This is Alicia.
09:53My name's Gretel.
09:54We're just with the ambulance service.
09:55Do you know what your name is?
09:59Pupils?
10:00Right ones.
10:02All right.
10:03Left one don't look like it's moving as much.
10:04So this is a decreased GCS with a TBI.
10:08Do you want to pass us a mask?
10:09It's going to give you some oxygen.
10:11We'll get you down to hospital.
10:14As the patient begins to regain consciousness,
10:17the crew suspect he has suffered a traumatic brain injury.
10:22Are you all right?
10:22Yeah.
10:24So, loss of consciousness.
10:25He's been GCS four, two, three.
10:29Yeah.
10:29So we're just looking at extricating and out.
10:31Yeah.
10:32Yeah?
10:32Sorry, sweet.
10:33We're cutting you top.
10:34All right.
10:35Is this working to you?
10:36Yeah.
10:38I'm going to sit you up and get you on our stretcher, okay?
10:43Nice and steady.
10:44Good lad.
10:45Very big stand.
10:48Good job.
10:52Who's going to allow you clap?
10:55Can't go up.
10:56Not a good idea right now.
10:58Do you remember it?
10:59Yeah.
11:01All right, darling.
11:02Let's get going.
11:06Over the last ten years,
11:08violent crime on the streets of East Yorkshire has quadrupled.
11:12BM was 5'5", temp was low.
11:16The patient will be met by doctors at Hull Royal Infirmary
11:20to assess the full severity of his head injury.
11:24This is the difference between Hull and Royal Airy.
11:29You can get there really quick play.
11:31Whereas in these Royal Airys, our hands are tied
11:34with absolutely nobody closer to get to them.
11:38It's been 32 minutes since Curtis and James
11:41were dispatched to the Category 1 choking
11:43in rural North Yorkshire.
11:47It's a long time to drive a blue light.
11:49Yeah, it is.
11:50Difficult roads.
11:51They are still the only resource available.
11:55Hello.
11:56Hello.
11:57Hey, is that manager with the object at all there?
12:00It was just a complete accumulation of stent.
12:02She's now a friend now.
12:04She's not choking now.
12:05She's just, no, OK.
12:06No, no, no.
12:06Hello, Rachel.
12:08She should be 91 in August.
12:131692, thank you.
12:14The individual has stopped choking.
12:19It's always a relief when you can see the marker on the map.
12:22You're like, oh, we're close now.
12:25Here.
12:27Looks like that spot will be.
12:31Hello.
12:32See you.
12:33Sorry about the weight.
12:34Where are we going?
12:35Hello.
12:35Just go around to the left, please.
12:37It's lovely.
12:38What's your name?
12:39I'm sorry.
12:40Hello.
12:40I'm James, this is Curtis.
12:42What's your name, sorry?
12:43Lucinda.
12:43Lucinda.
12:44I mean, I know that, obviously, a blue light is not quite what we were here with,
12:47but it's, um, when she was choking, I mean, she was literally,
12:52like that, and I just...
12:53I get it.
12:54And it can be distressful as well.
12:55It can...
12:56So I get it.
12:57I totally get it.
12:58They would rather play it on the safe side and have us here.
13:01We'll do a full set of observations,
13:03try and figure out what's going on.
13:05Hello.
13:05How are you feeling?
13:06OK.
13:07Yes?
13:08Is anywhere hurting?
13:10Yes, yeah.
13:10No?
13:11Good.
13:12Do you mind if I do a few little checks with you?
13:14Is that all right?
13:15I'm going to pop this on your finger.
13:17Doesn't hurt or anything.
13:19She has taken...
13:20I'm going to talk about you in front of you, Mum.
13:22She's had quite a bad decline in her cognitive abilities
13:26in the last two to three weeks.
13:28I was just feeding her some porridge,
13:29but because of her cognition,
13:31she's difficulty eating and swallowing.
13:33She's not really able to kind of cough.
13:34Yes.
13:35Can you stick your tongue out at me?
13:36And last night,
13:38she just couldn't sort of stay with it.
13:41OK.
13:41So how long ago was she not falling to sleep regularly?
13:45I would say two to three weeks ago.
13:46OK.
13:47I'm seeing a doctor on Tuesday.
13:48It's a doctor from her surgery.
13:49Is that because of her general decline?
13:51So in regards to her observations,
13:53there's nothing red flagging.
13:55Blood pressure's good,
13:56heart rate's good,
13:57temperature's good.
13:58I think the question we've got today is,
14:00where do we go from here?
14:01Yeah.
14:03I would discuss it with the out-of-hours
14:04and just get their opinion on it.
14:05See what they say.
14:07The problem is,
14:08she would have taken out like 10 or 12 medicines,
14:10swallowing them.
14:11She's not had any of them.
14:12Can we do them whilst you're here?
14:13Yeah, yeah.
14:13By all means.
14:15A bit of a menu, I think.
14:17I mean, look at it here.
14:19Opening a mini pharmacy.
14:22Just thinking.
14:22It's been a gradual decline over several weeks.
14:26There's the potential for EOL or end-of-life cancer.
14:29I'll speak to her about it.
14:33Mummy, we're going to get you on the old Sarah Seddy
14:35and we're going to take your medicine.
14:36So try and stay awake.
14:38Stay bright.
14:39Eyes open.
14:40I've been having the same conversation with James all morning.
14:43Try and keep your eyes open and stay awake.
14:46I'll get into the queue with a GP.
14:47So I'll help you.
14:49Oh, you're flying.
14:50This is the thing you see.
14:51She kind of comes and goes,
14:53like, sometimes she's...
14:54No, not at all.
14:56Sorry.
14:57No, Mummy.
14:58Not at all.
14:59Lift your feet up for me.
15:00Yeah, I wonder what she was doing.
15:02Oh, sorry.
15:03Yeah, I know.
15:03They're my ambulance lights.
15:04Don't worry.
15:05Okay.
15:06So the stand-up's pretty good.
15:07Well done.
15:07Now, what we do is we stare out of the window
15:10because it's a nice little distraction.
15:11Honestly, try and go about it as you normally would.
15:14I'm just here in case you need any extra help.
15:16Right.
15:16You've got some professional backup today.
15:18Yeah.
15:18I'm the security.
15:20It's so nice.
15:20It's so nice.
15:21It's so nice.
15:22To make sure you're not trouble.
15:24Open your mouth.
15:26Yeah, hiya.
15:28We've been called today for a choking episode that came through as...
15:32Take a sip of water.
15:34All are within range,
15:37but over the last three weeks it's had a decline,
15:40which daughter is getting investigated by the GP.
15:44Right, show me your mouth.
15:46Has it gone bad?
15:47Well done.
15:48Well done.
15:48Okay, ten to go.
15:52We're wondering if there's a possibility
15:54that she's approaching end of life, basically.
15:59And for the daughter just to discuss this on Tuesday with the GP.
16:04Hold the tablet there.
16:06Nice and gentle.
16:07Well done.
16:09We just wanted to make sure you agreed.
16:12Mummy, stay with it.
16:14Open your mouth.
16:16Good.
16:17Well done.
16:17Hold it there, and then you have a nice drink of water.
16:21No red flags, no sepsis markers.
16:24Brilliant.
16:25Take care, bye.
16:28Open your mouth for me.
16:29Well, yeah, well...
16:31Take a mouthful.
16:33Yeah.
16:34Drink this, darling.
16:35Drink this.
16:40OK, so will you stand up?
16:42And then just sit down in the chair.
16:45Perfect.
16:46Nice and tight, nice and safe.
16:48I mean, this is quite a difficult situation to manage, isn't it?
16:52You're coping very well, Lucinda, to do this on your own.
16:55You might start needing maybe extra help.
16:57Shall we go into the hallway quickly, Lucinda, and just have a chat?
17:01Yeah.
17:01So I spoke to Alvaro's GP.
17:04He has said there's no need to take to the hospital.
17:07Going off what's happened today and the decline,
17:10she potentially could be approaching end-of-life care.
17:15We aren't saying it's a definite.
17:16No, no, no, no, no.
17:17It's just...
17:17Last night, I really thought I was losing her.
17:20She was almost like slipping into a coma.
17:24But the fact that she can revive...
17:26She has kind of good moments and bad moments.
17:28Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:29But that is something we do see a lot in end-of-life patients.
17:34Can she stay in her home?
17:35Yeah, by all means.
17:36She can stay in her home.
17:37What changes then?
17:39So at end-of-life, it's basically things are put into place.
17:42There's just more options at home.
17:44District nurses.
17:45The plan can be never to go into hospital.
17:48No matter what she gets, she can stay at home.
17:51Are you happy with kind of what we've done today?
17:53Absolutely excellent.
17:55Hello, Trouble.
17:56We've just been having a chit-chat in the kitchen.
17:58Oh, really?
17:59Yeah.
18:00How are you feeling there, Mummy?
18:02Yes, you bet.
18:04Is this your lovely mother here?
18:06Yeah.
18:07Oh, my word.
18:091963.
18:10I mean, you still are beautiful, but in this photo...
18:13She was a beaut.
18:14Look at her. Look at that Southampton.
18:16I don't know why I'm holding my dress up like that.
18:18I mean, I...
18:19No judgement's here.
18:21If you do start to feel unwell, make sure you tell your daughter and she can phone us back.
18:26Yeah.
18:27OK.
18:28And you're going to see the GP on Tuesday?
18:30Yes.
18:30So, everything will get sorted for you then?
18:34All right, you take care.
18:35You take care.
18:37No worries.
18:40Oh, she puts on like that before.
18:42It's fine.
18:43I'm doing fine.
18:43I mean, the amount of work she's putting in there is amazing.
18:48Yeah.
18:52I see you've cleared off this detail.
18:54Lovely lady being cared at home 24-7 by her daughter, Lucinda.
19:00Essentially, Christina is going on to a end-of-life pathway.
19:04It's a really difficult time, isn't it, with end-of-life care?
19:08How is the daughter coping?
19:10She's managing well and just wants, obviously, a mum to be cared for and comfortable at home.
19:16We've done all we can to try and facilitate that today.
19:20Thanks very much for that.
19:21It sounds like you guys were amazing.
19:24You head back now.
19:25Yeah, we'll do that. Thank you.
19:27Control out.
19:3230 years ago, when I started, everybody knew their local ambulance was going to be sat on their local station.
19:38And they would have taken a patient into the local hospital.
19:41And everything worked.
19:4517.05, thank you.
19:46I see you clear off that last detail.
19:49Our responsibility as dispatchers is to get that right resource to that person in the right time.
19:56Like one big jigsaw.
19:58You can't always get all the pieces into the right place.
20:02It's almost like a postcode lottery.
20:05And that risk is scary.
20:207 hours into the bank holiday weekend and control have answered more than 1,000 emergency calls.
20:27A third have come from patients on the east coast.
20:30Tell me exactly what's happened.
20:33I'm in the bus station.
20:34I think I've got to eat.
20:35I can't show up where I pass on.
20:36I don't know what to do.
20:37Have you taken your jacket off?
20:39No, I just don't want my jacket on.
20:41Right, take your jacket off.
20:42That'll help you cool down a little bit.
20:45We're at a motocross track and he's come up in five feet.
20:48He's done his feet in love.
20:49The obvious response that we didn't do here is we did 40 minutes.
20:54We called about half an hour ago.
20:56Okay, so just tell me exactly what's happened.
20:58She's fallen from a horse.
20:59Jumping a fence.
21:00And he cataculted her straight forward.
21:02She's definitely done something to her collarbone.
21:05So the break ties in the area are currently any time within the next 45 minutes.
21:13It's all getting a bit busy on the coast now.
21:15It's fallen from a horse.
21:17Scarborough job's been sat for an hour and 20 minutes on a cat two at the moment.
21:22Yeah, I don't actually have a crew available to send on any job that comes in right now.
21:31I think the road's definitely busy going into Scarborough.
21:34Everyone's coming in.
21:35No-one has to leave.
21:38Curtis and James have just arrived back in Scarborough.
21:42I've got a crew.
21:44This detail's coming through for a 24-year-old female.
21:48Lucy, she's fallen from a horse where we broke on collarbone.
21:54They are three miles from the Category 2 patient who should have had help within 18 minutes.
22:00But she has been kept waiting nearly 90 minutes.
22:04It's mapping, it's here.
22:08Left here.
22:15Clear down, in me.
22:18I've got to get stuck on the sand, Curtis.
22:20That'd be immensely embarrassing.
22:26Hi, Lucy.
22:27I'm Curtis, and that's James.
22:29What do you remember from the incident?
22:32I just remember going to the first fence and ending up on the floor.
22:36Right.
22:36Do you remember hitting the ground?
22:38Yeah.
22:38So you don't think you lost consciousness at all?
22:40No, no.
22:40I'm just going to have a little feel of your back, OK?
22:42Yeah.
22:43So just going up the side of my neck and my shoulder.
22:45Side of your neck.
22:46Can I imagine you're in quite a lot of pain at the moment, are you?
22:49Yeah.
22:49I'll give you something for that, don't worry.
22:51Yeah.
22:52How many of these falls have you had?
22:53Well, I've never had a bad one like this.
22:55We've got the video.
22:56Can I see the video quickly?
22:58Yeah, can we see the video?
22:59Just of the fall, that's all.
23:01So a horse went to take off, got stuck in the poles.
23:05He meant a bit of a help, didn't he?
23:07Yeah.
23:07Is that all right?
23:08Yeah.
23:09OK, good.
23:10Are you just giving more phoenix or are you going to give some prosimo?
23:12If you could just get her some Entenox, start her on some of that,
23:15and then I'll prepare the more phoenix.
23:18Right, Lucy.
23:19Have you had Entenox before?
23:20No.
23:22Nice deep breaths.
23:25Can you feel that working at all?
23:28Curtis is just getting you that more phoenix, that all.
23:30It'll last for longer.
23:34Right.
23:35I won't sugarcoat it.
23:36Even with the Entenox and with the morphine,
23:39there's no way to make that totally pain-free, unfortunately.
23:44Feeling brave?
23:46Let's do it.
23:48On three.
23:48One, two, three.
23:50It's all right.
23:52That's it.
23:52All back.
23:53I've got you.
23:56Well done.
23:58There we go.
23:59Yep.
23:59On three.
24:00One, two, three.
24:02And down.
24:04There we go.
24:05Might be a bit bumpy as we move on the sand.
24:08Okay, I'll try and be as smooth as we can.
24:10I'll message you later, Luke.
24:11It's all right, love.
24:12All right, Amy.
24:13Thanks.
24:16Ready?
24:17There we go.
24:19There we go.
24:21There we go.
24:22That's all the worst movement done.
24:24What's your opinion on the collarbone?
24:26It didn't really look like the other one, that's for sure.
24:29No, that's what I was going to say.
24:30It looks dropped.
24:31It did.
24:31It just means to me there's a good chance you've snatched your collarbone.
24:34Right.
24:34You won't know until we've x-rayed it.
24:36You'll get to see the brand new, shiny A&E.
24:39It's like three days old.
24:40Right.
24:41You make sure James behaves himself back here, okay?
24:43What's your name?
24:44I'm Gloria.
24:45Gloria.
24:46Yeah, I'm Nan.
24:47Hello, Nan.
24:48Sweetheart, how are you doing?
24:50She's all right, aren't you?
24:51Hello, yeah.
24:52Well, you've done it good and proper this time.
24:54Yeah.
24:54You all okay?
24:55Yeah, we are good to go.
24:58So did you see it, Nan?
25:00I did see it, though.
25:02Bless him, though.
25:03He really tried to get out the way, didn't he?
25:04Yeah, he did.
25:05All right, thanks a lot, guys.
25:10I don't know the size of horses, so...
25:13He's about...
25:14We'll call it 17, Hans, if you like.
25:15And how big is that in feet?
25:17Like, if we had to put a feat on how far you fell.
25:20I don't know what you think it is, Nan in feet.
25:23I don't know, I don't know.
25:25Shall I Google it for you?
25:27If you want, yeah.
25:28Yeah, I'm not very good at stuff like that.
25:29Cos I have absolutely no idea.
25:31Cos if I say, oh, yeah, 17 Hans, 2A and E,
25:33they might think, what is he on about?
25:36Make sure I'm doing it right.
25:39Yeah, no, that's right, yeah.
25:40Five foot eight.
25:44Hello, adult trauma, please.
25:4624-year-old female.
25:48Yeah.
25:49Fell five foot eight off a horse.
25:51Injuries are left collarbone.
25:53Five minutes, yeah.
25:54Five minutes.
25:57All right, thank you, bye.
25:59How long have you lived in Scarborough?
26:02Uh, pretty much all my life.
26:04I'll give you life.
26:05Yeah.
26:11I do believe you have a right to be given quick and effective care.
26:16On the coast, we can't do that adequately.
26:20I think the public would be terrified if they realised just how few of us they were.
26:26I was born and raised here, so the people that we are talking about, they're my friends
26:32and my family.
26:33They're my community.
26:37Having the new A&E department at Scarborough is fantastic.
26:41But if people are waiting long periods of time for ambulances, then a brand new A&E isn't
26:47going to be worth anything to them.
26:50Hello there.
26:51We've got the pre-alert.
26:53Hi, I'm Q.
26:54I'm one of the senior doctor here.
26:56There you go.
26:58Initially, nine out of ten pain.
27:00To the left.
27:01Collarbone, yeah, and shoulder.
27:03She will definitely need some imaging canning.
27:05Yeah.
27:05We need to take some clothes as well.
27:07Just come this way, yeah.
27:09All right, all right, you take care.
27:13It was on the sand.
27:15And it was a big car.
27:16It was powerful.
27:1717 hands.
27:19It means nothing to me, that.
27:21Five foot eight.
27:24I googled it.
27:26Thank you very much.
27:27We'll see you later.
27:30Have you seen the back of our vehicle?
27:31I would've been on beach.
27:34I hope we can find a sweeping brush.
27:3816.92.
27:39You head for a bloody damn break.
27:41Grab a cuppa now while you can.
27:43Sounds like a good idea to me.
27:48This would be a perfect dolphin day.
27:50A dolphin day?
27:52Last week, there was a pod of 90 dolphins off the coast of Stardust.
27:56Yeah.
27:57Yeah.
27:58Well, I just want to know how they're counting.
28:00It's actually just the same three dolphins that are keeping up.
28:03Counting 90 there, darling.
28:08Bank holiday in Scarborough, eh?
28:10Yeah, you can't beat the seaside in the summer.
28:12No, you can't.
28:18Tourism puts a lot into Scarborough.
28:22The population can double on a bank holiday, and our resources don't double to account for that.
28:31But me and James do work together well when we're up against it.
28:38I met James as a teenager when we both worked at a hotel making beds.
28:44We'd time each other to see who could make beds quickest and race each other around.
28:51He was a community first responder at the time, and he got me into doing it.
28:58We actually did my first ever shift together.
29:01It was a really stressful experience, so to be able to lean on someone else was really good.
29:08I then trained and became a paramedic.
29:11Ten years later, James came and joined me on the ambulance.
29:16It was almost just like a big reunion.
29:30The bank holiday weekend pressure is continuing to impact Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
29:35Is it obviously been out of shape?
29:38Does she have a history of stroke or brain tumour?
29:41And in the last hour, call handlers have answered 180 emergency calls.
29:46I just pulled around the corner, he's laid in the middle of the road.
29:49He looked like he was having a seizure, he was shaking.
29:52I'm organising the help.
29:54He's coming out of the greenhouse himself.
29:57It's covered in blood, I don't know, it's all coming from.
30:00How old is he?
30:0287.
30:03So I've organised some help.
30:05It could be any time within the next two hours and 50 minutes.
30:08Yeah, just covered everybody in the area.
30:11As call volumes increase, Scarborough residents are now waiting up to four times longer than
30:17the target response time.
30:20I've not got anyone available on the coast at the moment.
30:23Yeah, the average waiting time for a Cat 2 at the moment is an hour and 14.
30:29Category 1s, I think, are about 26 minutes for the average.
30:33It's a big difference, isn't it, for the really poorly patients, it's a really big difference.
30:40Nobody's immune to emergencies happening.
30:43And my family know how it feels to wait a long time for an ambulance.
30:50My granddad collapsed in the very small bathroom at home.
30:54And my grandma had to ring 999.
30:59She waited a considerable amount of time.
31:02This is a frail older lady trying to get her husband off 60 years, life or death treatment.
31:10The ambulance should have been there for him.
31:13And if anybody could have changed that, the outcome could have been different.
31:20My grandma was never the same again, from feeling like she'd let her husband pass away in her arms
31:27without anybody there to help her.
31:30And that lives with me.
31:44There is currently just one ambulance available in Scarborough
31:49to care for both residents and the influx of bank holiday tourists.
31:54Thanks very much. You're so to be fair.
31:571705 paramedic Tracy and ambulance practitioner Lauren
32:01have just cleared at the local hospital.
32:06I still remember you asking me.
32:10We went into the toilets.
32:14And then you went,
32:15how would you feel about being my crew mate?
32:17I felt like you were asking me to marry you or something.
32:21Well, I thought it's like on a temporary basis.
32:24Enough.
32:25For life.
32:26For forever.
32:32Good afternoon, you are through to NHS 111.
32:35I'm calling about my mum.
32:37I'm just a bit worried.
32:39She's getting mixed up with everything.
32:41It's just like slurring her words and she can't remember anything.
32:47New incident.
32:48Category 2.
32:49Female.
32:50Age 81.
32:51What's me?
32:52Difficulty speaking.
32:53999.
32:56Tracy and Lauren are dispatched to the patient having a suspected stroke
33:0090 miles away in Whitby.
33:031705.
33:05Patients confused with slurred speech.
33:07Sorry about the run time on this one.
33:09We are just struggling with resources.
33:11Yeah, that's all received.
33:12We'll update you if you need anything else on there.
33:151705, Bridget.
33:16Thank you very much for that.
33:19The sooner a stroke is treated, the better outcome.
33:22The better outcome, yeah.
33:23But if we're the only results, we're the only results.
33:28Got another stroke coming through.
33:33Curtis and James have just cleared from their break at Scarborough Ambulance Station.
33:3818 miles.
33:40What?
33:40It's in Bridland.
33:42999.
33:44It's a Category 2 detail in Bridlington.
33:48Patient, 69-year-old male.
33:50Just say patient is fast positive.
33:53He came very vacant and is now unable to talk and unaware of what is happening around him.
33:58Yeah, Roger, no worries.
34:00If we need anything on scene, we won't let you know.
34:03One seaside town somewhere, then.
34:06There are just three ambulances serving a population of 51,000 across the seaside towns of Whitby and Bridlington today.
34:16With all local resources tied up with patients, Curtis and James and Tracy and Lauren are dispatched to the two
34:24different stroke patients.
34:26Each crew will be almost 20 miles from Scarborough, leaving the town without ambulance cover.
34:32If either patient requires specialist care, their nearest hospitals are 30 miles away in Middlesbrough and Hull.
34:43We go where we're needed.
34:45Whitby crews could be stuck in Scarborough.
34:48Yeah.
34:49That might be Whitby coming now.
34:53It's the same with, like, Bridlington, isn't it?
34:58Bridlington's got quite a vast population.
35:01Got one ambulance covering it.
35:03Bad, that, isn't it?
35:03A big town, one, three.
35:07Between Scarborough and Bridlington, you're looking at half an hour, aren't you?
35:11I've got my foot flat on the floor.
35:14Not very good at pill, are they?
35:16No.
35:17Need a bit of encouragement.
35:18Come on, old girl.
35:20You can do it.
35:22As Curtis and James make their way down the coast to Bridlington,
35:26Tracy and Lauren are arriving on scene in Whitby.
35:36Hiya.
35:36Hiya.
35:39Hiya. My name's Tracy. This is Lauren.
35:41I don't know where I'm from.
35:42It's about how I'm all right.
35:44Are we all right to just check your over? Is that OK?
35:47Yeah.
35:47What's your name?
35:48My son told me when I was at work,
35:51because he said she was, like, all slow-speeched.
35:53Is your son here?
35:54No, he lives in Leeds.
35:55He lives in Leeds.
35:56The call every day.
35:57Barbara, am I OK to do a fast test on you?
36:00What's that?
36:01So that's to basically see if you're having stroke-like symptoms.
36:05I'm just going to ask you to hold me towards you.
36:08It's going to be on top of your leg.
36:10Right, and push me away.
36:12That's perfect.
36:14Push your leg out towards my hand.
36:17That's it, perfect.
36:17When people came, she was disorientated to who was in the house
36:21when she'd got up, when she'd come downstairs for breakfast.
36:25I'm going to ask you to do a big smile for me.
36:27Show your teeth.
36:28Can I ask you to have a look?
36:30Does that seem normal to you?
36:32That's all.
36:33Look in the bed.
36:34Left side.
36:34On this side?
36:35Yeah.
36:37Do you have any history with strokes, Barbara?
36:39Yeah, me, ma'am.
36:41Have you ever had one?
36:43No.
36:43No.
36:44From our point of view, your daughter's saying that there's a bit of a droop on the left-hand side.
36:49It could be what's called a mini-stroke or a TIA that's resolving.
36:56We would recommend that we bring the stroke nurse to see if she would accept you at James Cook
37:01or we take you to Scarborough.
37:04My face has always been like this.
37:08Hi, yeah, I'm a paramedic with Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
37:11Can I refer a patient to you, please?
37:16Yeah, that's a grandson.
37:18How old is he?
37:19Great-grandson.
37:20Great-grandson?
37:21You don't even look old enough to be a great-grandma.
37:23Six I've got.
37:24Six?
37:25Oh, wow.
37:25Bet you're busy at Christmas.
37:27Yeah.
37:28All right, thanks very much.
37:29OK, bye.
37:30So, I've spoken to the stroke nurse at James Cook.
37:34What she's suggested is we bob you up to the A&E department
37:38and they can do all the diagnostic tests there.
37:41I'm not going.
37:42What's stopping you from going?
37:43I'm not going, Al.
37:45Just to get checked out, just to see what has gone on.
37:49I'm not going to do all the advances around.
37:51So, we can't make you do anything that you don't want to do.
37:56You're in control of this.
37:57It's entirely what you want, OK?
38:00But strokes can be reversed within a certain time period.
38:06Are you worried?
38:07I don't think I'll just go.
38:10I'm not saying it to scare you, Barbara.
38:13I'll be with you.
38:14Bye.
38:15Bye.
38:17Would it be worth knowing?
38:19It's not something serious like that.
38:23I don't know where it...
38:25I know, sweetheart.
38:32I suppose I'll have to go.
38:36I suppose she gets checked earlier, then.
38:39It probably is, I think.
38:40No, I'm sorry.
38:43Are you ready?
38:46I'll go first.
38:47You follow me.
38:48I'm frightened to death, Andrea.
38:50Yeah, we know you are.
38:52They won't keep you there unless they want you.
38:55Lift your arm up for me, darling.
38:58Everybody has these belts on, Barbara.
39:01I think I was going to bloody prison, wouldn't you?
39:05Andrea, just have a look at your mum.
39:08Can you give me a big smile?
39:11Do you think that that's normal?
39:14Yeah.
39:15It does look like it has resolved a little bit.
39:18Would you prefer to go to Scarborough?
39:19It's closer.
39:20Yeah.
39:21Yeah.
39:22Oh, hi, I spoke to you earlier about Barbara.
39:25Barbara would prefer to go to Scarborough.
39:27Are you OK with that?
39:29I think it looks like it's resolving.
39:32Thank you, bye.
39:36With her condition improving,
39:38Barbara will make the 36-minute journey to Scarborough Hospital
39:42for a scan to rule out a stroke.
39:4916.92, go ahead, over.
39:51Thanks, Kirsty.
39:52We can't look at this patient.
39:54There's a lot of people here, though, have there?
39:56Let me see if I can get back in touch with the caller.
40:00It's taken Curtis and James 28 minutes
40:03to get to the second suspected stroke patient in Bridlington.
40:08Hello, there.
40:09Hello, it's the ambulance control.
40:11We're just struggling to find exactly where you are.
40:14Yeah, right on the front.
40:16You've not seen anyone collapse on the floor, have you?
40:19No.
40:19No.
40:20What's directly in front of you?
40:22So, what's directly in front of me is the state.
40:26Have you called for us at all?
40:28Anyone?
40:29No.
40:30If you see them, are you OK just to give them a wave?
40:33Yeah.
40:33So you're waiting for us?
40:34That's it.
40:36Just go down there.
40:37You can go down onto the thing.
40:39Oh, lovely.
40:40Oh, yeah, there.
40:42Ramp down.
40:52Are we down there?
40:54Yeah.
41:00Hello, sir.
41:01What's your name?
41:01Brian.
41:031692.
41:04It's just to give you an update.
41:05We have made patient contact out of it.
41:07We sat here and he's watching his wife playing.
41:10And then he started, like, five, six, nine, so I came and I held him, like...
41:15Can I see him come up a little bit?
41:17See, what's his medical issue?
41:19There you go.
41:19That'll be more than enough.
41:20I'll touch this.
41:22What's your name?
41:23We're just going to do a quick check here and then we'll go to the ambulance and we'll
41:26do a full assessment on there.
41:28You're not going to get on that right to you?
41:30Yeah, we're going to get you on there.
41:31What have you been doing today?
41:33We've just driven from Worksox Mead.
41:36OK.
41:37And we've worked from the New Overworld.
41:39We've done three coattails.
41:41I won't pretend I know where that is, but...
41:43OK.
41:44BP's OK.
41:45In terms of your observations, everything's within normal range.
41:49Are you usually shaky?
41:51No.
41:51Are you cold?
41:52No, he's not cold.
41:53No, all right.
41:54All right, let's see how we are.
41:55You ready?
41:56Push with your legs.
41:57Just get your bearings.
41:59Stud up.
42:00Yeah, OK.
42:00Are you all right there?
42:01How do you feel, stunning your feet?
42:03Not too bad.
42:04Yeah?
42:05Let's walk you to the stretcher.
42:07Let's get you on the ambulance.
42:08Get you somewhere private.
42:09Yeah, come on this side if you want.
42:11Mark, watch me on back.
42:13Yeah, sit on it.
42:18Couple of bumps.
42:23Maybe you've done this so you didn't spend too much money, eh?
42:26That's what it was.
42:26He was losing on the arcades and he thought,
42:28I've had enough of this.
42:31Spent nearly two quid in two peas.
42:34Just here, yeah.
42:37Curtis is the expert driving.
42:38Oh, what can I say?
42:39It's not my first rodeo.
42:42Are we all right, Sue, just to do an assessment if you were outside?
42:45Just because we'll both be in here, you see.
42:49Right, Brian, if you just lift your glasses up for me
42:51and then just look at me, not the light.
42:55That's fine.
42:56Just squeeze my hands.
42:58Nice and tight, that's it.
42:59Just hold your hands out, close your eyes.
43:01Keep your hands there.
43:04That's fine.
43:05Lift both your legs up.
43:06Push against my hand with this one.
43:08That's fine.
43:08And this one?
43:10That's fine.
43:11Fast negative.
43:12Lovely.
43:13We can't really put our finger on why it's happened.
43:17There's a thing called Vase Vagel, which is like a fainting episode.
43:20It's something that the GP can assess.
43:22As soon as you're home or on Tuesday,
43:25try and book in to at least get one in a couple of weeks' time,
43:28just to check up.
43:28So I generally try and keep myself fit for my age for, like I said, 69.
43:34I think you're doing very well.
43:35You're expecting me to be dead by now, I think.
43:37No, you take that however you want to take it, Brian.
43:42Do you have any children?
43:43Yeah, they've all left home and skid out.
43:46But Sue's got married nine years ago and they're acute.
43:51One of them died of cancer, unfortunately.
43:53Oh, right, OK.
43:53And the other one has just had a near-fatal car accident,
43:56and so it's not been going great at the moment.
44:00Have you found you've been under a bit of stress then recently?
44:03Yeah.
44:04Is this like a trip for a bit of R&R?
44:07Yeah.
44:09I'll go find Sue.
44:10You've stood outside, yeah.
44:13Right, we've had a chit-chat with Brian
44:14and we've checked everything over.
44:16Everything we've checked is normal.
44:19To save him walking back after an event,
44:21we'll give you both a lift up and down the road.
44:30You've got to be very well.
44:33And I think if you feel back to normal,
44:35try and have you relax,
44:36because he's told us about the stresses you've been going through.
44:38So try and make this just a little blip.
44:40I know it's hard.
44:41It's just another thing.
44:42I know, I know.
44:45Are you going straight up to your room?
44:48Because we'll walk you up there.
44:51Hello again.
44:52You just can't get rid of us, can you, Brian?
44:53No.
44:56Sounds like there's some kind of entertainment on.
44:57A bit of karaoke on.
44:59Right, you hold on to that.
45:00What's your go-to karaoke song then, Brian?
45:02Go on.
45:07You take care,
45:08and hopefully you both enjoy the rest of your stay.
45:13All right, let's see you.
45:16Not a bad idea, to be fair.
45:17Get away to the seaside for a couple of days.
45:21Flying without wings.
45:23Oh, perfect karaoke.
45:24Shall we go and drag?
45:24Oh, perfect.
45:26No, I'm not.
45:32It's 2-2-NHS111.
45:34My name's Richard.
45:36Are you calling about yourself?
45:38My wife's on two of them.
45:40But I can't get her up.
45:43I'm here, right?
45:44I'm here.
45:46I'm sorry, Dad.
45:47That's all right.
45:49She's got cancer, yeah?
45:51Since she's only got three months to live.
45:55we're at caravan in scarborough
46:01i'm sending 1705 out
46:06999
46:09this is coming through the caravan park 85 year old female terminal ca patient
46:17fallen on the floor and unable to get up
46:19we'll go and have a look and see what we can do far over
46:24tracy and lauren are six miles away from the terminally
46:27ill patient sounds like she's going to be on holiday actually
46:34so we'll go in and we'll see what she's like
46:37yeah see what her wishes are
46:55where are we going
46:58oh hello hello what's your name my name's lauren
47:03hi jean my name's tracy
47:05pleased to meet you what's your name your husband what's your name
47:08how long what's happened my darling i don't know i just went off so did you lose consciousness
47:13no no don't worry don't worry don't worry
47:19my idea i was going to take her home and then you know we'll take her to our hospital
47:24yeah
47:26where do you where do you live
47:30okay what time did it happen jane do you know that's that's alan what time did it happen
47:36about an hour since is she normally unsteady on her feet like that
47:39this last two days she's gone back she has okay she's got a cancer of lungs cancer of bones
47:47she's gone to a brain
47:50are we all right to get some observations off you just to see what your numbers are like
47:54yeah and then we'll have a little chat about what we're going to do
47:57i'm so sorry i'm going to have to step over you is that okay
48:02does she have a care plan or a respect farm or anything last time we went to sheffield she says
48:08i'm only here three months when was that four nights in three weeks okay
48:17she said i'd like to tell her but she's concerned to tell me not to take her because
48:22she could have a seizure i should have wrote to me she wanted to come
48:27i just need an orchid because i don't want to just tie a toe
48:33you've got a bit of a temperature yeah what is it 39.9 just pop that on your finger for
48:40me gene
48:41have you felt unwell the last few days no do you feel unwell now no okay okay no it looks
48:49like
48:49you've got a bit of an infection for these sort of numbers we would normally take somebody to hospital
48:54yeah okay yeah to get them some antibiotics yeah are you happy to come to hospital with us yeah
49:00it's a nice hospital the a&e at scarborough it's a new one that's all right so have you got
49:07any
49:07strength in your legs at all it's probably going to be better to get you out on our carry chair
49:14yeah
49:15are you ready yeah yeah one two three all right there we go we'll get we'll get the chair in
49:23and
49:23then once we stand you up from here then we can go straight on the chair chair's here
49:37i can help if you need me to let me get under your arm here that's it are you normally
49:44breathless
49:46no no no get out of my feet just little steps so i've got your back there so there we
49:54go we're
49:55down keep your feet on that silver bar okay thank you we won't drop you i promise
50:06it's not that you're not with me aren't you have you absolutely not
50:15just to give you a bit of oxygen did you do some of the cleaning and
50:23but all essential though yeah i understand that oh i'll go get the stuff no don't worry because
50:36it's heavy don't worry don't worry
50:41don't be daft
50:46it is beautiful here though isn't it
50:50how are you coping i'm not you're not yeah just keep breathing
51:02she's had chemotherapy and all that she seemed to pick up
51:09i've tried to manage but yeah it is hard it's scared a bit too much now
51:13have you got any support in place for you okay and is that a number
51:20for you to ring if you need to part yeah okay are you going to come with us no i'll
51:26be coming
51:26okay
51:29now i'll see you there and the area shelf
51:33she will with us don't worry see you later alan
51:39are you comfy yeah do you want that blind open for a bit of sun
51:46yeah all right yeah all right we're going to set off okay are you ready trace yeah ready to go
51:53yeah
51:55so i'm just going to sit here gene
52:01so it could be just an infection at the moment but it can lead on to something called sepsis
52:05it's something that we don't take lightly the sooner you have blood tests the better
52:15how long have you been married to alan
52:1862 years do you own that caravan
52:27you live in scarborough i do yeah scarborough born and bred lucky aren't you yeah
52:37hello welcome where do you want us to do
52:41is this gene gene yeah here she is the husband's following up in the car he might be here actually
52:47do you want to come with me we'll show up no you come with me yeah yeah you come with
52:52me hello alan
52:53uh we've just started on some treatment tests suspected infection
52:56are you from barnsley yeah you know we've been striked after that's village i live in
53:03you just step outside here for a minute we're just doing some more tests and then we can make
53:08away in the minute all right so okay any questions no no no she's safe i'm here cheers
53:16all right thank you for coming oh you're very welcome you don't have to thank us honestly
53:21you know you've got manners you know yeah
53:26i'm 87 she's 85. well you both don't look it
53:29really well to get in this cancer yeah
53:34and she had to go to have her hair done oh back home oh did you take her back home
53:39to have
53:40her hair done 180 bloody miles oh wow then did you come straight back
53:43that oh well the lady's got to have her hair done though won't she absolutely
53:51oh i think you can go in now
53:55found him for you you're very welcome
53:57just go to that side sweetheart there's a chair for you to sit on okay
54:03now then i'll be back in a moment jean for that blood okay i'm just going to show the doctor
54:10you're going to have to go to the hospital and i'm going to have to go to the hospital
54:26he's going to find it hard being with someone that long they would live and breathe each other
54:30wouldn't they they would seeing her deteriorate it's going to be hard for him hopefully whatever
54:36time she's got left she can enjoy it or she can you know she can have that time with alan
54:41in the caravan
54:47you guys go home knowing that you've made a massive difference to the patients this weekend
54:52uh you've been amazing thank you for that i couldn't do without you are you ready for the time of
55:00your life
55:00it's time to stand up and fight i think the benefits of this job far outweigh the hardships
55:09fancy some bits of chips may as well and i'm very fortunate to have a friend next to me in
55:15the
55:15amulet service i'm hungry hungry now that we've said it you ever get rid of me never i'm not sure
55:23if when we were working at the hotel we expected to be saving lives together years later
55:33i think we're both very proud of how far we have come oh my god scraps i can't take you
55:39anywhere
55:45anyway we've made it we actually have we've done it
55:51you cannot magically get a crew to drop down from the skies but every single member of this dysfunctional
55:58family pulled together all right guys have a good shift same again tomorrow yeah see you tomorrow
56:07i think the ambulance service is the jewel in the nhs crown people can always ring and we will always
56:14help them it might just stop me as quick as we would like every woman every man
56:21join the caravan of love stand up stand up stand up everybody take a stand join the caravan of love
56:34the caravan of love stand up stand up stand up i'm your brother
56:43i'm your brother i'm your brother don't you know
56:54don't you know
56:57you
56:59Are you ready?
57:02Is coming
57:03Are you ready?
57:05Is coming
57:47Transcription by CastingWords
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