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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 12

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Christopher Eccleston

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Dragonfly Film and Television

Ambulance: Series 12: Episode 2

Episode 2

BBC One - Ambulance, Series 12, Episode 2

Senior paramedic Aiden is dispatched to a patient who has fallen 20 feet from a tree.

Multiple resources are dispatched to a patient who has fallen 20 feet from a tree and requires urgent treatment for a suspected broken back and open wrist fracture.

It's a busy start to the shift as the North West Ambulance Service answer one new 999 call every 16 seconds. Senior paramedic Aiden is dispatched alongside an ambulance and advanced paramedic to a category 2 patient who has fallen 20 feet from a tree and has an open wrist fracture. As Aiden treats the patient, another job comes in for a two-year-old who has fallen from a balcony. The decision is made to divert the advanced paramedic, leaving Aiden the most senior clinician on scene. 

In Salford, crewmates Aaron and Emily are seven minutes away from a patient who has absconded from hospital and is suffering from a mental health crisis. The patient’s circumstances are uncertain at first, but after some investigative work, the crew decide to transport the patient to hospital for further treatment. One mile away, crewmates Jodie and Tom are attending to a male patient who has been vomiting blood and is in need of urgent medical attention at Salford Royal. 

As 97 crews attend to calls across Greater Manchester, control are alerted to Aaron and Emily’s earlier patient, as she has once again walked out of hospital. Paramedic Aaron steps in to offer the patient some words of encouragement, as she continues to refuse treatment. After just one year in the service, the job leads Aaron to reflect on his role as a paramedic: ‘I think in life, we all need someone to talk to… As an ambulance service, we’re in a very privileged position in that, when people are at their worst, we’re there to go in and speak to them when they most need it.’ 

Four hours into the shift, and an emergency call is received for a patient who didn’t know she was pregnant and is giving birth in McDonald's. The crew on scene request back-up to help care for mum and baby. Crewmates Jodie and Tom are immediately dispatched. A healthy baby is born and transported to the nearest hospital for checks.

Moments later, Jodie and Tom are dispatched to a category 1 emergency for a patient not conscious or breathing. A warning is placed on the job, as the patient is known to have a history of weapons, and the crew are urged to approach with caution. On arrival, they find the patient conscious and breathing but becoming aggressive. After receiving assistance from the police, the crew are eventually able to get him onto the back of the ambulance and transport him to hospital for treatment. 

In Manchester city centre, senior paramedic Aiden attends to a homeless patient with an open leg wound. Despite the severity of his injury and the recommendations of Aiden, the patient refuses further treatment at hospital. Aiden is unable to arrange for a GP to come out, as the patient is homeless, and after exhausting all options, he is left with no choice but to leave the patient on the streets of Manchester. 

The Monday day shift is already off to a busy start for the North West Ambulance Service. Senior paramedic Aiden is called out to a category 1 patient who is reported to be unconscious and not breathing on a balcony. Multiple resources are dispatched, but it’s not long before everyone is stood down when it turns out the patient had simply been asleep. 

It's almost five hours into the shift. Crewmates Aaron and Emily are dispatched to a 92-year-old patient suspected of having had a stroke. They find the patient struggling to mobilise and recommend a trip to hospital for tests. On arrival, the crew must join the queue of seven ambulances and wait to hand over their patient, with a cup of tea in tow.

Ambulance: Series 12

BBC One

Bafta award-winning series Ambulance is back in the north west at a time when the NHS is facing the twin crisis of unprecedented strikes and growing waiting lists.

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