The first episode reveals the dilemmas faced by the London Ambulance Service as they are forced to bump patients down the queue so they can prioritise the sickest, deal with time-wasters and cope with the ever-present threat that a major incident is just a 999 call away. An ordinary day in London means dozens of car crashes, overdoses, suicide attempts and - statistically - 28 cardiac arrests, where every second can make the difference between life and death. By 11.00am, seven cardiac arrests have already come in, and now there are two more people fighting for their lives. As one crew battles through traffic to try to save a dad of two, across the city, another faces a difficult decision - whether to stop resuscitating their patient, knowing full well the impact it will have on the family. The brain of the service is the control room and, when a number of stabbings, suicide attempts and a double shooting flood the 999 phone lines simultaneously, they threaten to overwhelm the service. And when there is an unexpected spike in 999 calls - far outstripping the number of ambulances available - drastic action has to be taken. Some emergency callers have to be told an ambulance cannot come to them so that the service can prioritise reaching those in most urgent need. Multiple calls about an explosion in a flat come in and herald the control centre's worst fear - now, the whole of the London Ambulance Service has to step up.
Episode two joins the staff in the nerve-centre control room on the night shift, when amongst the thousands of calls they receive, they also have to contend with hoaxers, frequent callers and run-away patients. At one point, 125 patients are waiting for assistance and the ambulance allocators are forced to prioritise the sickest patients, even if that means bumping others down the queue. An ambulance crew is on their way to an elderly faller who's been waiting on the floor for three hours, but he's left even longer when they are diverted to an urgent call for a woman who says she is having a miscarriage. When they get there, they discover all is not as it first seemed and the crew is torn between frustration and compassion for a patient who's clearly troubled. Meanwhile, another crew assist a 94-year-old who entertains them with surprisingly candid talk of her love life. As her condition deteriorates, the decision is made to take her into hospital. The crew are all too aware that this may be the last time she leaves home. Across the city, a call handler spends an hour and a half on the phone to a suicidal patient who is running away from the crews trying to track him in the busy streets of London. A dementia sufferer is all too desperate for an ambulance. She has called 15 times tonight, and even after visits by clinicians who agreed she didn't need their medical assistance, she continues to call. If they keep sending ambulances to her, there'll be fewer for other patients in the area, so the service faces a difficult decision to say no to her heart rending pleas for help.
The London Ambulance Service brace themselves for a demanding weekend shift. As Londoners head out to play, the Ambulance Service often has to pick up the pieces. They need prepare for a torrent of cases, all with their own unique challenges. In Brixton, advanced paramedic Rich helps a man who's out of control and lashing out in a nightclub after taking a drug overdose. In east London, a man who's travelled all the way in from Essex to eat at his favourite kebab house has been viciously assaulted. In the control centre, it's fun and games from nine months ago that's causing the phone to ring - five babies are being delivered on the phone tonight. By Saturday night, the streets of London bring a huge challenge for the service - as the pubs begin to close, the violence is escalating. The ambulance dispatchers are forced to make tough calls about who gets an ambulance quickest and who will have wait - when a stabbing comes in they have to divert a crew from a six-year-old who's fallen from a bunk bed. It's not an easy decision for any of them. A couple of hours later, the same crew attend their second stabbing of the night, and the seventh across London this evening. When, at the end of the weekend, a call for a miscarriage comes in, it's the type of emergency that the ambulance staff are trained for, but all the preparation in the world can't always shield them from the emotional toll that sharing a personal tragedy can have.
Documentary revealing the work of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, beginning with a distraught wife being coached over the phone on how to give CPR to her husband who collapsed suddenly at home, as crews race to save him. Elsewhere, controller Glennis has her hands full as she attempts to juggle between helping a crew search for an elderly man who has fallen in an alley way, and a high priority call for a street brawl taking place, with reports of a man being badly beaten with a baseball bat.
One hour into the night shift with West Midlands Ambulance Service and the control centre is dealing with its third cardiac arrest, as the MERIT team cares for a patient who has been stabbed and is bleeding heavily. Just four miles away, another crew must stay with an elderly man long after they have treated him, as they've spotted he's run out of vital medication and no one else is available to organise a refill.
Veteran ambulance man Mick and crew-mate Dave are dispatched to help a woman with pains in her stomach. But it soon turns out she is having a massive heart attack. Call supervisor Steph receives a call about a woman who has gone into labour at the side of the road, leaving her with little choice but to oversee the delivery of the baby over the phone.
In a busy control room, call assessors Rowena and Sally are both dealing with suicidal patients on the phone while controller Louise and dispatcher Lucy urgently find available ambulances to send to them.
The air ambulance crew is dispatched to a woman who is struggling to breathe after falling downstairs, just as a call comes in for the ambulance to attend a road accident, leaving trauma desk paramedic Fay facing a tough decision. Ben and Sophie answer a call from a terrified mother whose toddler is having a seizure, and reports of a hanging come into the control centre - but with no sign of a patient, the staff must decide whether the call is a hoax. Paramedics Helen and Julie try to find temporary accommodation for a homeless patient.
Crewmates Justin and Dawn's first job of the day starts with a call to a woman whose waters have broken, and former butcher Justin is in his element delivering the baby. Their next case is not so welcome though, as they attend a woman who has called 999 four times already that day and is one of a handful of prolific frequent callers staff across the ambulance service all know well.
Several ambulances are stuck at the busy Worcestershire Royal Hospital waiting to hand over their patients, causing problems in the control room. Sham and Nina answer a call to help a man in his 90s who has fallen over. The only problem is, his wife cannot reach the bolts to unlock the door. A troubled man is rushed to hospital after taking an overdose of his medication, a trainspotter trips over and hurts his head at Bewdley Valley Steam Railway, and two brothers battling addiction strike a personal chord for paramedic Nina.
The documentary tells the inside story of what it is like for the paramedics dealing with the consequences of Storm Doris, which killed four people across the UK in February. The control room staff are fielding a third more calls than normal after a surge in wind-related injured, including three people trapped in a car by a fallen tree and a 94-year-old blown over while feeding the birds. With winds reaching more than 60mph, the Air Ambulance team has grounded and instead faces an agonisingly long journey by car on blue lights. Last in the series.
A day shift takes an unexpected turn for West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedics, Nat and Nat, when a 999 call about an unconscious patient suddenly becomes very personal. In the meantime, a 16-year-old girl has been taken ill at school.
New Year's Eve is the busiest shift of the year for West Midlands Ambulance Service. Extra staff is brought in to care for those in need, but the night does not go as planned.
Specialist trauma team Pete and Matt are called to the victim of a knife attack, carrying 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. A 96-year-old reports that an elbow wound, caused by falling off his mobility scooter earlier in the week, will not stop bleeding, so crewmates Mark and Nieaal drive 20 minutes on blue lights in the dead of night to treat him.
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.
At the start of a night shift, West Midlands Ambulance Service is receiving a High volume of emergency calls and is struggling to cope. A specialist paramedic attends a machete attack but his less urgent jobs are even more time-consuming.
The last Saturday before Christmas is a busy, with controller Sui having to prioritise stabbing victims and reports of drowning over patient's like Betty, whose daughter says she's fine but needs help getting up having fallen to the floor.
A Friday night nightshift on a pay weekend in winter proves to be busy for the specialist trauma team.
West Midlands Ambulance Service crews pay a heavy emotional toll after attending troubling cases of addiction and attempted suicide.
The staff of North West Ambulance service deal with 11,000 calls over the weekend when 80,000 festival goers descend on Manchester for the Parklife festival. Also, Glynn and Andrea are dispatched to a 94 year old woman who has had a fall.
A distressed mother calls for help for her 19 year old daughter who is self harming, advanced paramedic Luke is dispatched to a 9 year old boy feared to be a cardiac arrest, and Gina and Jimmy treat a twelve year old who has had an accident at judo.
A suspected terror incident requires a large scale response and brings back memories of the Manchester Arena attack for paramedics. Also, the team are kept busy dealing with a repeat caller who moves around Manchester's canals on his barge.
Call handler Joe faces his first unsupervised shift answering 999 calls on a busy night for the North West Ambulance Service.
A Friday night shift takes an unexpected turn for paramedic Jon. A panicked caller needs help for a friend who has given birth in a hotel room despite not knowing she was pregnant.
Joining North West Ambulance Service for a twelve-hour night shift. Call handler Elly tackles an increasing volume of calls, and there are surprises for paramedics April and Clare.
The BAFTA-winning series follows ambulance crews in the wake of England's defeat at the 2018 World Cup.
While most enjoy a hot May bank holiday weekend in Manchester, North West Ambulance Service paramedics Gary and Claire need face matters of life and death.
Call handler Laura offers life saving advice to a panicked 999 caller, the call makes such a deep impact that she decides on the spot to change the direction of her life.
As senior paramedic Rich waits for his first job, he comments on the increase in homelessness in Greater Manchester. A category one response is needed for a man lying unconscious on the street because it is believed he has taken synthetic cannabis.
Doctor Ian and paramedic Nikki see the human consequences of youth violence when they attend a 13-year-old who has been stabbed and two young men who’ve been shot.
North West Ambulance Service faces the pressure of the busiest day of the winter so far with an overwhelming volume of calls and severe delays handing over patients in hospital.
Resource manager Saj is forced to make a split-second decision over where to send his limited resources when he is confronted with the choice between a patient who could be in cardiac arrest at a house fire or a child who is choking. Advanced paramedic Luke puts his specialist training to use when he is dispatched to a life-threatening motorcycle accident that has created multiple 999 calls.
Multiple 999 calls come in for a patient who has been struck by a car so a decision is made to send the helicopter crew. Unfortunately the chopper is grounded by freezing conditions and the scene is 45 minutes away by car. Paramedics Cassie and Ray to a patient who is short of breath, only to face a dilemma, and advanced paramedic Jon responds to an urgent call to a homeless man who no discernible pulse after spending the night in a van.
Filmed in Spring 2019. Following ambulance teams attending to the 1.4 million people of Merseyside on St Patrick's Day weekend.
The control room team feel the pressure on a busy night as they receive calls concerning a cocaine binge, a traffic collision and an accident involving a cherry picker.
North West Ambulance Service mobilises extra resources as thousands of visitors arrive in Liverpool for the Grand National.
A burglar has injured himself while trying to escape from a house he was burgling. As Kirsten arrives to support the crews already at scene, she finds he is in agony with a nasty open fracture to his leg.
A man found slumped in his car in the city centre turns on the good samaritan who called an ambulance for him, leaving the caller needing emergency hospital treatment.
Call handler Brogan has to guide one caller through the process of performing lifesaving CPR while they wait for an ambulance to arrive.
Ambulance crew Kate and Femi are dispatched to a young man who is struggling to breathe. It turns out he’s suffering from severe anxiety, prompting Nigerian-born Femi to reflect on what he’s learned about the people here in the 18 years since he first came to the city. Mandy, one of 24 dispatchers on duty today, sends crewmates Kayleigh and Lauren to help a young man in cardiac arrest. The case causes Mandy to reflect on what it is like to lose a son - something she has experienced herself. By 10am, just three hours into the morning shift, control are dealing with the third assault of the day and have already responded to four stabbings. With the temperature gauge rising, control are taking over 300 emergency calls an hour.
Advanced Paramedic Kev is dispatched to a cardiac arrest. There is brief hope when they get a pulse back, but the patient needs to be urgently transferred to hospital, and a van is blocking the ambulance’s path and refusing to move. Gary and Fabio are dispatched to a patient who has fainted at Oxford Circus underground station, but whilst on scene, Extinction Rebellion protesters flood the area and block the roads. The next day, as MPs sit during the weekend for an important vote in Parliament, the team in control is taken by surprise when there's a problem nobody had foreseen - the entire computer system used to respond to 999 calls crashes. The team is forced to make an urgent switch from computers to pen, paper and map books, answering calls and taking down the information by hand before dispatchers radio the crews and direct them to the most serious cases.
Amy, who is less than a year into the job, tries to get help to a patient who has been assaulted by her partner. The woman is unable to tell Amy her proper address, which means the team on the ground have difficulty locating her. A 999 call for a baby having a fit is a priority call, and crewmates Kate and Terry are immediately dispatched. They are 2.5 miles from the Category One emergency, but the traffic jams lead to a fraught journey for the crew. Amy takes a 999 call for a patient threatening to set fire to a building, and trainee call handler Mackenzie, who is on her final shift of training, is put to the test when she takes a call from a woman in late-stage labour with twins. Reports of a 15-year-old boy in school uniform has been stabbed come in to the control room. The news is not good and knowing they can not save him from his fate has a profound effect on the team on shift
It’s payday weekend for millions of Londoners, and police request urgent assistance at the scene of a stabbing. Josh and Vinny have been dispatched to a woman who has collapsed in a casino. Stuart and Rachel are sent to a grandmother with chest pains who has been waiting 23 minutes for an ambulance. Whilst on their way, the patient’s son calls again saying his mum has deteriorated and there is no alternative but to start CPR over the phone. The attentions of the control team are torn between a 999 call for a patient who has reportedly been shot ten times and reports of fight involving seven people. Incident response officer Pete and paramedic Kieran are dispatched to the scene of the fight, where they need to navigate the language barrier to unpick exactly what has happened. Reports come in that two people have been shot. Pete is dispatched to manage the scene. On arrival he decides there is no time to waste and the patients need to get to hospital immediately.
It is Halloween and in the control room, B watch are on duty and expecting a busy night. A call from the London Fire Brigade requesting assistance at a fire in a block of flats immediately puts the team under pressure. Crewmates Sarah and David are dispatched, joining 106 other emergency services personnel at the scene. Mother-and-daughter team Nicola and Maisie have just finished with their first patient of the night but are immediately dispatched to a 12-year-old boy who has had an unfortunate accident. As the night shift continues, multiple 999 calls flood in reporting a devastating scene after two buses and a car have collided. With multiple casualties, the situation is declared a significant incident. This is rare occurrence - London Ambulance Service have only declared this twice in the last year. On this busy Halloween night, the service must somehow make ten more ambulances available at the incident. Nicola and Maisie are amongst those sent to help.
A 999 call concerning a patient seen walking into the Thames takes priority. Although pulled from the water, the crew fear that the patient is at risk of secondary drowning.
In control, join call handler Erin as she answers a 999 call from a distressed relative who has found their loved one hanging. This is the first time Erin has answered a call such as this and it has an instant impact.
It's 10pm on Friday night, and Abbie and Ben, and Kieran and Mick, are amongst the 320 crews on duty in the capital. Reports are coming in of an armed male on the loose, but it's a call for a reported stabbing seven miles away which takes priority.
Cameras follow crews from the North West Ambulance Service as they respond to the impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic and Storm Christoph.
As the second wave of Covid-19 grips the country, the pressure mounts on the NHS in Merseyside. With hospitals almost full, ambulance crews know they must try to keep most of their patients at home.
A crew attend to a woman who has contracted Covid-19 while 20 weeks pregnant. But they must join a queue of 56 ambulances waiting to transfer patients into the local hospital.
Linda and Emma respond to patients in mental health crisis across Liverpool, while an asylum seeker struggling with isolation is a cause of concern for the whole service.
The North West Ambulance Service are struggling with a spike in staff sickness from Covid-19, which is making it hard to meet the demand for 999 responses. A decision is made to ask for military personnel to help, with military recruits put through three days of intensive training before they can join the paramedics working on the frontline. Once training is complete they will be able to respond to lower-category calls, which account for 20 per cent of the service's workload, freeing up ambulances for more critical calls. The service has also drafted in agency staff to work as call handlers.
A quiet start to the night shift is broken by a 999 call on behalf of a 13-year-old patient who is stuck on a bus having dislocated her knee.
A call to help a patient threatening to jump off a bridge requires an urgent response during a busy day shift for the staff of North West Ambulance Service.
Crewmates Dec and Nicole are urgently dispatched to a baby who has stopped breathing, and they also attend to a 12-year-old patient with a history of being bullied.
A 999 call for a patient who has fallen from a horse in a remote area takes priority for crewmates Chris and Lee on a very busy day shift in Lancashire.
One year on from the beginning of national lockdown, Lancashire ambulance crews attend to patients whose health problems have been bought on or exacerbated by isolation caused by the lockdown.
On a busy night shift in Lancashire, a call for a patient threatening to take his life by walking into the sea in Blackpool takes priority for the North West Ambulance Service.
As society opens up, the Easter bank holiday has consequences for North West Ambulance Service. A call for a patient stuck in a forest in Cumbria takes priority.
A crew from the North East Ambulance Service attend to a family who arrived in the UK just 17 days earlier as refugees from Iraq.
Crewmates Paula and Phil attend a patient who is feeling suicidal, and the call-out takes a worrying turn when the patient begins hallucinating in the back of the ambulance.
A night shift takes a turn for the worse as multiple Darlington crews respond to a category-1 call for a patient in cardiac arrest.
The North East Ambulance Service is struggling to deal with an unprecedented volume of calls. The NHS faces chronic stresses and strains as frontline staff battle an increase in mental health problems, stretched public services and deepening poverty in the north east region.
Staff shortages and a rise in 999 calls stretch the North East Ambulance Service to its limits, meaning only the most critical patients will get an ambulance.
It's the beginning of the night, and the team in control have inherited the consequences of a busy day shift. Ambulance crews are already starting to queue at hospital as they wait to hand over their patients.
A busy night shift for the North East Ambulance Service begins with an emergency call for a woman in labour. In Stockton, crewmates Hannah and Becky attend a 78-year-old female patient who has fallen down the stairs and suffered a seizure. In control, an urgent call is received for a 12-year-old female patient who has taken an overdose. The patient admits she has been struggling at school, which is having an impact on her mental health.
As crews begin to book on for the start of the day shift, an emergency call is received for a patient who has made an attempt to end their life. Crewmates Emily and Gayle are immediately dispatched to assist another crew. As they make the ten-minute journey to provide back-up, the patient is confirmed dead, but Emily and Gayle decide to remain at the scene and help provide some much-needed support to the grieving family.
Filmed during a historical period of uncertainty for the NHS, this episode introduces the staff of North West Ambulance Service across Lancashire, from the picket line to the front line.
A busy night shift for the ambulance service as they are alerted to an infectious disease outbreak at Fairfield General Hospital.
A busy weekend night shift across Lancashire sees advanced paramedic Shaun dispatched to a baby born in the passenger seat of a car.
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.
An urgent call from someone threatening to use a nerve agent against the emergency services leads to a major incident standby being declared.
Ambulance crews respond to a road traffic accident where a man who has severely injured himself requires advanced pain relief.
Multiple emergency services respond to two separate reports of unexploded bombs in Greater Manchester, one with a primary school and nursery nearby.
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.
The ambulance service responds to two separate calls for patients with severe burns, both in need of urgent treatment at the region’s only specialist burns unit.
Ambulance crews struggle to deal with life threatening emergencies while also being the last resort for those who have no one else to turn to.
It’s Easter bank holiday weekend, and the ambulance service receive a spike in the number of mental health-related calls.
While ambulances queue outside hospital with their patients, care is delayed for others ringing 999.
London Ambulance Service manage a multi-storey flat fire and face the impact of assaults, both on patients and themselves.
Emergency medical technician Ellis draws on his own personal experiences to help a patient struggling with alcohol addiction as the spring budget for 2024 is announced.
Dispatchers Karen and Lucy face an overwhelming surge of urgent calls, while crews out on the road grow frustrated by frequent callers taking up valuable emergency resources.
Multiple specialist resources rush to help patients injured after a shooting on a busy street in Clapham, while paramedics care for elderly patients reluctant to accept help.
It’s a run of night shifts for the London Ambulance Service, and delays are on the rise. Despite intensifying pressure, paramedic Rob uses his Essex charm to put every patient at ease.
In south west London, Martin attends a child hit by a car, while dispatchers Ed and Webster work tirelessly to get ambulances to patients as hospitals reach full capacity.
