Ambulance

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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.

Series 11

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Christopher Eccleston

Simon Ford

Peter Wallis-Tayler

Tasha McLintock

James Robinson

Dan Nightingale

Dragonfly Film and Television

Ambulance: Series 11: Episode 4

Episode 4

BBC One - Ambulance, Series 11, Episode 4

Mandy and Lauren help an elderly patient who has been on the floor for two days.

Crewmates Mandy and Lauren help an elderly patient at the local boatyard, who has been on the floor for two days before being discovered by his neighbour.

The shift begins with an emergency call to North West Ambulance Service for an unresponsive patient. Crewmates Jess and Paul arrive on scene to find blood on the door, so approach with caution. 

In control, dispatchers Joe and Meg are on the frontline of managing their scarce resources. They are responsible for 56 ambulances covering the whole of the 843 square miles of south and east Lancashire today, including crewmates Mandy and Lauren, who are dispatched to a local boatyard. 

They find a 74-year-old man who has spent two days on the floor before being discovered by a neighbour. Due to the patient’s injuries, the crew must attempt a tricky extrication, before transporting him to hospital on an urgent amber pre-alert, which means he will be admitted straight away rather than wait in the queues that are building at the hospital. 

While in Burnley, Kiera and Cameron try to find support for a regular caller who lives alone and is evidently struggling to cope.

As the first shift draws to a close, dispatcher Joe and the team in control respond to a category one call – the most life-threatening - for a 17-year-old patient in cardiac arrest. As Joe hands the job over to the night shift, he reflects on the challenges of working in control and reveals that his ambition is to become a paramedic, working hands on with those in need.  

As the other crews begin book on for the start of a new day shift, crewmates Kiera and Cameron are dispatched to their first patient of the day: a 34-year-old female who has taken an overdose. The job leads Lancashire born and bred paramedic Cameron to reflect on the growing number of people in east Lancashire struggling with their mental health. He shares his insight into grief as he has lost several people very close to him, notably his grandfather, who inspired him to become a paramedic.

The numbers of new calls are relentless - eight hours into the shift, and call volumes have tripled from those inherited overnight. 

Cameron and Kiera are six miles away from a category two patient who has called for help following a drinking binge. The crew find the patient at rock bottom, though they are inspired to learn that despite her relapse she is determined to beat her alcohol addiction.

Meanwhile, in control, call handler Zoe is on the line with a suicidal patient. Crewmates Jess and Paul are immediately dispatched to the call in progress. On arrival, they find the patient is suffering a mental health crisis and refusing to go to hospital. After they request back-up from the mental health team, the patient becomes violent, so they have no choice but to vacate the property and leave the patient in the hands of trained mental health professionals.  

In this episode, we shine a light on the increasingly multi-faceted role of the ambulance service today. We see how they have no choice but to go beyond the blue lights and sirens to provide a safety net for those with nowhere left to turn, while continuing to deliver life-saving emergency treatment to those most in need, in a system that feels close to breaking point.

Ambulance: Series 11

BBC One

Bafta-winning documentary series following the North West Ambulance Service.

The Bafta award-winning series returns to the north west at a time when the NHS is facing the twin crises of unprecedented strikes and growing waiting lists.

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