Ambulance - A BBC Documentary of the UK's Ambulance Service

[Psihusky]

 

I've come across these videos on YouTube which go over the West Midlands Ambulance Service (in the United Kingdom. It's a British documentary).  It gives a real insight into the fantastic work happens on the ground and in the control room. Being an actual dispatcher and firefighter, I can see parts in here that are "added" which usually wouldn't be said because it's "TV". But for the actual crews on the ground, it doesn't appear to be scripted and is real snapshot into the work done.

 

Description: An unprecedented insight into the ambulance service, from the highly-pressurized control room to the crews on the streets. This is an honest 360 degree snapshot of the ambulance services daily dilemmas and pressures.

 

WARNING: Please note that the episodes do contain scenes that some find triggering, disturbing, or upsetting.

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Trailer - Ambulance: a BBC one documentary

Trailer

 

Series 3 - Episode 1

Ambulance : Series 3 - Episode 1

This first episode opens with West Midlands Ambulance Service call assessor Shanie as she deals with the cries of a woman in labour. Shanie has just graduated from training, but with a supervisor watching over she calmly guides the caller through delivering the baby. When she hears the paramedics arrive, she can safely leave the caller and the newborn in safe hands, and is thrilled to have successfully helped deliver the baby over the phone.

Among the 242 crews on duty across the West Midlands are Nat and Nat. It's a special day for Nat Greaves as it's her daughter Jessica's sixteenth birthday. Jessica's birth was traumatic for mother and baby, and this is a birthday her family never believed she'd be here to celebrate.

Dispatched to an elderly fallen patient, Shirley, the crew find her face down on the landing with a broken ankle. What they also discover is a tale of human strength and a message to live each day. It leads Nat Greaves to reflect on her decision to become a paramedic aged 34 after being inspired by the help she received in her times of need.
The service receives a call from a community centre with concerns for the safety of a man showing signs of agitation. Fearing the patient could harm himself, a specialised mental health team is sent to the scene. The team is a collaboration between three emergency services - police, mental health and ambulance - and aims to make sure patients in psychological distress get the care they need and aren't held unnecessarily held at police stations or A&E. Daniel reveals he hasn't taken his medication for three weeks, and mental health nurse Harriet takes the time to listen to what Daniel is experiencing. She worries symptoms of his schizophrenia have returned and encourages him to return to hospital. Daniel agrees, but the problem is they need to find a suitable bed. While they wait, Harriet learns Daniel has a talent for writing music, and finds he calms down when showing examples on his phone.

In the meantime, an emergency call comes into control with reports that a 16-year-old girl has been taken ill at school and is unconscious. It turns out to be Nat's daughter, Jessica. Her mother rushes to hospital to intercept the ambulance that is carrying her daughter. Jessica regains consciousness and Nat spends the night by her bedside. With her daughter safely back at home with Dad, Nat insists on returning for her next scheduled shift the following evening.

Nat and Nat are dispatched on a call where reports are that a patient is believed to be deceased. They arrive to find a suicide by hanging, and this is the first time Nat has attended to a patient who has taken their own life.

Series 3 - Episode 2

Ambulance : Series 3 - Episode 2

Documentary series providing an insight into West Midlands Ambulance Service. Extra staff is brought in to care for those in need on New Year's Eve, but things do not go to plan.

Series 3 - Episode 3

Ambulance : Series 3 - Episode 3

In an average week, crews across the West Midlands respond to 30 stabbings. Pete and Matt, a specialist trauma team, are called to treat the victim of a brutal knife attack. They carry out urgent medical intervention at the scene in a bid to save the man's life.

Paramedics Christine and Chris start their day shift with a man who has collapsed in Worcester town centre after a suspected drug overdose. They give him an opiate antidote to stop him slipping into a coma, but the effect is only temporary. Unfortunately when the patient comes round he is angry that Christine has cut open his tee shirt in order to treat him.

With A&E departments across the region busy, ambulance crews face waiting times of up to two hours before they can hand over their patients. When Jo and Tracey are called to 90-year-old Dennis, who's been vomiting, they want to save him from the inevitable delay at hospital. But GP surgeries are under pressure too and they can't get through to his doctor. They have no option but to take Dennis to hospital, join the queue and delay the time before they're available to take the next case.

Christine is well aware of the waiting times at hospitals when she and Chris are dispatched to Theresa, a terminally ill patient with suspected neutropenic sepsis caused by her cancer treatment. Christine promises Theresa and her husband Michael that she won't allow Theresa to queue in a corridor and face the risk of infection, which she is particularly susceptible to during chemotherapy. Christine cares for Theresa in the ambulance while parked outside A&E for an hour and a half, until finally she is found a room where her she can safely wait alone.

Crewmates Mark and Nieaal drive 20 minutes on blue lights to Ledbury in the dead of night to treat 96-year-old Jim. He fell off his mobility scooter earlier in the week, and his wound to the elbow won't stop bleeding.

Series 3 - Episode 4

Ambulance : Series 3 - Episode 4

West Midlands Ambulance Service has seen a 30 per cent rise in calls relating to mental health in the past three years. Paramedics have limited training in mental health, and there are no simple fixes. This episode sees some of the problems and frustrations they experience when trying to help a growing number of their patients who experience the trauma of mental health crises.

The shift starts with a series of category one emergency calls. Nina and Lauren respond to a caller whose mother has stopped breathing and is in cardiac arrest. The call handler in the control centre gives CPR advice over the phone while paramedics travel on blue lights to the scene. The target response time is seven minutes - if they arrive within five minutes, the patient's chance of survival increases by 20 per cent. After delivering the patient to hospital, Nina calls to check in on her own mother, who is recovering from heart surgery.

Nina and Lauren are dispatched when a wife reports that her husband is choking on his food. The choking has stopped by the time the crew arrive, but they learn there is a more serious illness behind the difficulty in eating - the patient, a retired teacher, has only recently been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, and his health is declining fast.

The day takes a surprising turn when a call comes in from a member of the public who has spotted a suicidal message broadcast on Twitter. Holly and the team in Control must play detective to find an address for the Twitter account to make sure the patient gets the care she needs. Paramedic crew Justin and Helen join police in searching the area to find the patient before her threats to harm herself becomes a reality.

At the same time, Dave and Lauren are called to an alcoholic patient who has overdosed. The patient has previously had markers that say he has weapons at his address, but with no police available to assist the crew must decide whether to risk entering without back-up. They find a man who is desperate about the destruction his addiction has caused. Dave draws upon his own difficult past to reach out and connect with his patient.