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Insight into the London, West Midlands and North West of England ambulance services, from the highly-pressurised control room to the crews on the streets. Ambulance provides an honest 360-degree snapshot of the daily dilemmas and pressures.
2018
Over a busy weekend in Manchester, North West Ambulance Service paramedics Andrea and Glynn attend an RTC, while Debbie and Shaun try to persuade a homeless man to go to hospital.
During a 12-hour night shift with North West Ambulance Service, call handler Elly tackles an increasing volume of calls, and there are surprises for paramedics April and Clare.
A suspected terror incident requires a large-scale response and brings back memories of the Manchester Arena attack for the paramedics.
West Midlands Ambulance Service must manage problems of a winter NHS crisis that has left patients queuing in the corridors of Royal Stoke Hospital.
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.
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.
This episode follows staff on a Friday night shift. Saj, the performance manager, is concerned there aren’t enough ambulances for all the patients needing them.
The North West Ambulance Service prepares for England's meeting with Croatia in the World Cup semi-final. As the country comes together in hope and excitement, the crews nervously anticipate the increase in calls that will follow no matter what the result.
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.
2019
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.
Joining ambulance crews in Greater Manchester as they tackle the freezing winter conditions. Advanced paramedic Jon treats a homeless man who has spent the night in a van.
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.
2016
Multiple stabbings, suicide attempts, a double shooting and an explosion at a flat flood the control centre of the London Ambulance Service with emergency calls threatening to overwhelm the service.
We join the staff in the nerve-centre control room on the night shift. Amongst the thousands of calls they receive, they also have to contend with hoaxers, frequent callers and run-away patients.
The staff of the London Ambulance Service prepare for another busy weekend. Amidst the call-outs to drunken fights, drug overdoses and stabbings there are also five women going into labour and a miscarriage to cope with.
2017
It is Saturday night and Katie and Sarah race to help a man who has collapsed at home. By midnight, revellers spilling out of bars and clubs start to impact the service as calls flood in of brawls and accidents.
1 hour into the night-shift the control centre is already onto its 3rd cardiac arrest and the 12th stabbing victim of the weekend. Other crews are tied up caring for an alcoholic and an elderly man.
A crew are dispatched to attend to a woman complaining of stomach pains, but she has actually suffered a massive heart attack. Terminal cancer patient Nigel is philosophical about his life.
Jo and Suki are involved in high drama as they take a patient to hospital when a car crashes right in front of them. Call-handlers deal with two suicidal patients. In Birmingham a woman has had her finger bitten off.
The air ambulance is dispatched to a woman struggling to breathe after falling, but the helicopter is soon also needed at a road accident in Staffordshire. Reports of a hanging come in but is the call a hoax?
Justin and Dawn's first call of the day is to a woman whose waters have broken. A drunken man, repeat callers and a woman unable to leave her home all test the crews patience.
Crews in the more rural areas covered by the service are called out to an elderly couple, a train-spotter who has fallen and banged his head and suicidal patients.
The West Midlands Ambulance Service have to deal with the fatal consequences as Storm Doris batters the UK. Gale force winds are causing accidents, blocking roads and grounding the air ambulance.
2018
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 19-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.
Pete and Matt, a specialist trauma team, are called to treat the victim of a brutal knife attack. Paramedics Christine and Chris start their day shift with a man who has collapsed in Worcester town centre after a suspected drug overdose. Jo and Tracey are called to 90-year-old Dennis, who's been vomiting. Christine and Chris are dispatched to Theresa, a terminally ill patient with suspected neutropenic sepsis caused by her cancer treatment. Crewmates Mark and Nieaal drive 20 minutes on blue lights to Ledbury in the dead of night to treat 96-year-old Jim.
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.
2020
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 London.
Advanced Paramedic Kev is dispatched to a cardiac arrest. While the ambulance crews on scene continue to give CPR, Kev's attentions turn to support the family members anxiously waiting.
It's Friday night and 320 crews are 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.
It's payday weekend for millions of Londoners, and the 370 ambulance crews on duty are busy caring for the capital. Thirty minutes into the night shift, police request urgent assistance at the scene of a stabbing.
It's Halloween and in the control room, B watch are on duty and tare 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.
A call for a reported stabbing seven miles away that takes priority. Across the river, another 999 call is in progress for another patient who has been stabbed, this time in the throat, while on his way home with his girlfriend on a bus.
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.
2021
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.
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.
2021
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.
2022
A crew from the North East Ambulance Service attends to a family who arrived in the UK just 17 days earlier as refugees from Iraq.
A high number of Category 1 emergency calls puts the North East Ambulance Service and the hospitals in the region under relentless pressure.
A 999 call for a patient driving the wrong way up a slip road kicks off another busy shift for the team covering the 2,300 square miles of Teesside.
Crewmates Joe and Hayley attend a number of emergencies, including a baby who is not responding, a centenarian who has had a fall, and a patient who has jumped off a bridge.
The North East Ambulance Service and Great North Air Ambulance Service work as a team after multiple urgent 999 calls alert them to a collision on the motorway.
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.
2022
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.
A suicidal patient phones in a bomb threat, and the crews have a very busy St Patrick's Day.
The North East Ambulance Service responds to multiple 999 calls for patients at breaking point and struggling with their mental health.
Crewmates Emily and Gayle respond to calls regarding an attempted suicide and an 81-year-old diabetic who has fallen off his mobility scooter.
2023
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.
2024
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.
2024
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 Budget for spring 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.
2025
One of London's specialist mental health cars helps to ease pressure on the service from the growing number of patients in crisis, including a homeless university student living rough.
As London sleeps. crews battle to care for vulnerable, lonely and critically ill patients, including an elderly man who has suffered catastrophic trauma after a fall downstairs.
Aer a frantic 999 caller reports witnessing a relative being attacked by an XL bully dog, crews are dispatched – but the dangerous dog is still on the loose.
Crews respond to a patient in traumatic cardiac arrest after being stabbed. With his life hanging in the balance, doctors have no choice but to operate on him at the roadside.
Call handler Caelainn and her colleagues are sexually harassed by a persistent caller using a withheld number, which makes it hard to block his repeated calls.
Patient Ron suddenly stops breathing whilst visiting London from the Isle of Wight. With his condition critical, a bystander intervenes to try to save his life.
2025
Bailey is left shaken by the sudden decline of a regular patient, who has been left feeling suicidal after discovering the shelter he lives in is closing down.
As hospitals in North Yorkshire face overwhelming pressure, Adam and Joe prove laughter is the best medicine as they care for an elderly patient suffering from stroke symptoms.
Every parent’s worst nightmare unfolds when five-year-old Harry is hit by a car. Paramedics battle through rush hour traffic to reach him.
Ingleton crew Barney and Chloe are dispatched to a woman who is discovered collapsed at a bus stop and are shocked to discover how and why she got there.
Critical care paramedic Nick is dispatched to a 78-year-old man who was found collapsed at home. Surrounded by the patient’s family, Nick must deliver some heartbreaking news.
Every second counts as critical care paramedic Zach tries to stabilise an 11-year-old boy who has been seriously injured in a multi-car crash.
2026
A persistent and abusive caller causes major disruption for the team in control, and crewmates Sarah and Louise are shaken after an attack on them by a patient having a seizure.
Alan watches on as crewmates Tracey and Lauren help his wife Jean from the floor of their caravan. Alarm bells ring as checks reveal she is suffering from life-threatening sepsis.
Central Leeds crew, Nagina and Mo, are called to a scene where police are negotiating an end to a siege where a man is threatening to harm himself and the officers attending.
Critical care paramedic Matt administers pain relief to patient, Neil, before he is rushed to hospital, where doctors will assess him for suspected head and neck injuries.
The team in ambulance control try to assist paramedics Sam and Sophie, who are deep in woodland struggling to locate a patient they’ve been told has had a fit while out on a walk.
Alistair attends to Paul, who has fallen onto concrete from a ladder. The specialist paramedic must assess his multiple injuries and reassure his patient, who fears he is dying.
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