Original version

BBC One North West

Ambulance

Documentaries

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Documentary series taking a detailed look at ambulance services.

Life and death decisions on the frontline. From control rooms to the crews on the street, meet the people making sure every second counts.

ambulance_logo-image-s-260418-pp_v3.jpg

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One London

London

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One Yorkshire

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

BBC One Oxfordshire

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC One Wales

Wales

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

Ambulance: Series 3

Christopher Eccleston

Kirsty Cunningham

Simon Ford

Ben Rumney

Chris McLaughlin

Jo Hughes

Dragonfly Film and Television

Ambulance: Series 3: Episode 8

ambulance_s03e08_281118_pp.jpg

Episode 8

Series 3

BBC One - Ambulance, Series 3, Episode 8

The emotional toll on the crews called to some of the most troubling cases becomes clear.

Documentary series. West Midlands Ambulance Service crews pay a heavy emotional toll after attending troubling cases of addiction and attempted suicide.

This episode follows West Midlands Ambulance Service over three shifts in Staffordshire, where crews are dealing with an increasing number of social issues, drug and alcohol misuse, and mental health patients.

The night shift starts with paramedic crew Dom and Sue, who are waiting at the address of a potentially violent female in Stoke. The police have requested the presence of an ambulance as there are reports that the woman is in possession of two hammers as weapons. After 40 minutes, Dom and Sue are still waiting for police to arrive, frustrating for both the crew and dispatchers in the control room, who are missing a valuable resource while other calls continue to come in.

Later in the shift, Dom and Sue are sent to a young female heroin addict who has suspected DVT after injecting into her leg. The patient is one of 2,500 heroin users in Stoke, which has the fifth highest rate in the UK. Sue is left feeling deflated by the cycle she's repeatedly witnessed and the patient's inevitable return to drug use after being taken to hospital.

Elsewhere, other crews are called to troubling cases, causing the paramedics to reflect on their own past and to assess the emotional demands of the job.

Jordan and Katie attend to 21-year-old Stephen, who has tried to kill himself by jumping from a bridge into a canal. When the crew arrives, the patient is already hypothermic and starts to lose consciousness, and if they don't get him to hospital soon enough, the hypothermia could prove fatal. For Jordan, the suicide attempt resonates with his own struggle with mental health. He confides to his crewmate that he thought about ending his life when feeling desperate about the prospect of coming out as gay.

Mark and Verity are another paramedic pair who know the importance of the emotional support they provide each other. They treat 35-year-old Brett, who has lived with alcohol dependency for 18 years and doesn't know where to turn. With the patient on a waiting list for detox, the crew struggles to see how they can help other than to check him over and offer encouragement. Later, they're dispatched to 56-year-old John who, after years of battling depression, has taken an overdose of co-codamol. In the ambulance on the way to hospital, Mark reveals that he too contemplated suicide when his stress-related anxiety was at its worst. It was only recognising he'd hit rock bottom and signing up for course of counselling that saved him.

BBC One

Documentary series providing a revealing insight into West Midlands Ambulance Service.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Ambulance

Series 3

Episode 8

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One North West

About BBC One