(SIREN WAILS)
WOMAN: People know that when the green uniform comes along,
you're going to help them.
It's absolutely my superhero costume.
WOMAN: Do we have a pulse?
Oh! (SIREN WAILS)
MAN: You are being an absolute trooper.
WOMAN: As soon as we arrive, they just know they're in safe hands
and that we're gonna do everything we can to help them.
WOMAN: Oh, the poor little one. (BABY CRIES)
I wouldn't have guessed you were 104.
(BOTH LAUGH)
I genuinely believe laughter is the best medicine.
I feel weird!
(BOTH LAUGH)
NHI: You've got the dream team tonight.
To know that you bring someone that's very unwell to hospital
and they get better,
it's one of the best feelings in the world.
You're the toughest man I've ever met.
MAN: Second to God, these people.
(SCREAMS) MAN: That's it.
No! Oh... AARON: You're doing so good.
MAN: Let's get you in the ambulance, eh?
WOMAN: I feel really proud to wear this uniform
and I feel really proud to be a paramedic.
(SIREN WAILS)
(DASHBOARD CHIMES) (SIREN WAILS)
NARRATOR: On this episode of Paramedics,
Bill races to a woman who's been brought back from the dead...
..after going into cardiac arrest.
BILL: Sat rate has dropped.
Our biggest fear is that her body does start to shut down again.
I don't think we can actually clear her neck.
A nasty fall at church...
My head's really sore.
..could have life-changing consequences.
Worst-case scenario for Jennifer is that she's fractured her spine.
My head. Oooh.
We've just got to get out of here.
And Laura's driving skills...
Full throttle. Full tilt.
..are put to the test... Momentum is your friend.
..after rescuing an injured mountain biker.
Whoa!
(SIREN WAILS)
SA Ambulance. Tell me exactly what's happened.
MAN: (ON PHONE)
And what's your name?
How old is she?
Is her breathing normal?
At the South Australian Emergency Operations Centre,
a panicked man is on the line,
desperate to help an unconscious woman outside his house.
I need you to try and turn her over onto her back if you can.
Or at least into the recovery position.
WOMAN: (ON PHONE)
What's happening, Michael?
MICHAEL: (ON PHONE)
(DASHBOARD CHIMES) (SIREN WAILS)
It doesn't get any more serious than this
for intensive care paramedic Bill.
We are driving priority one
to a confirmed cardiac arrest of a 50-year-old female.
Cardiac arrest actually means your heart has stopped to a degree.
It won't actually be pumping out any blood throughout your body.
Every minute that you are in cardiac arrest
without any intervention being performed,
you lose about 10% of your brain
and potentially your heart muscle as well.
I'm driving to this patient who is in active cardiac arrest.
I'm already thinking
that there's not a great chance of their survival.
As Bill gets closer to the patient,
bystander Michael has started what he hopes is life-saving CPR.
So we're going to go one, two, three, four. OK?
A little bit faster.
You need to go 5cm deep.
You're doing really well.
We're coming very quickly.
(SIREN WAILS)
(LAUGHS)
Keep eating. (LAUGHS)
It's a quiet moment between jobs
and paramedics Olivia and Sally are watching the world go by.
Poor kid.
Sorry. I put him off his food.
Why?
I was watching him eat and then he went all shy.
(LAUGHS)
But the people-watching is over... (DASHBOARD CHIMES)
as a new job comes in.
Sally, we're going priority three to a 75-year-old lady.
Looks like she's fallen, hit her head, oh, in a church...
Oh!
A head strike in this aged patient could be quite serious, Sally.
Being in your 70s, as we age, our brain shrinks a little bit,
so you've got a lot more space between the brain and the skull,
so hitting your head at that age puts you at a higher risk
for some kind of traumatic brain injury,
bleed on the brain.
Anything's possible.
This is the church?
Oh, yeah. Little kid's pointing.
Hello. My name is Olivia. Hi.
How did you end up here?
I went to get a bookmark from the altar
and I turned around and I don't know how...
I must have missed a step or something.
Yeah. Then I fell and hit the pew...
Oh...
..and I think I got... on top of my head...
Yeah.
..I think I've got a split... and my head's really sore.
Yeah.
The paramedics are immediately worried about
the large amount of blood coming from Jennifer's head wound.
I'm just going to touch your neck. You got any pain back here?
No. But I've got osteoarthritis in my neck.
You've got osteoarthritis in your neck?
We know that with osteoarthritis, joints become much more stiff,
so she's at a much higher risk for having some kind of fracture.
MAN: She's had about five falls in the past 12 months.
Oh, has she? OK.
Jennifer's husband Johnny is there
and the poor man looks concerned and upset.
He's clearly worried about his wife.
She's got cages in her back... in her spine.
What's... Disc cages.
Oh, disc cages. OK. Yeah.
SALLY: He tells us that she's got some spinal issues.
We'll have to explore that a little bit more,
but it's obviously really concerning him.
Can you wiggle? Wiggle the toes for me?
Given her medical history, alarm bells are ringing.
This just isn't a simple fall and hit to the head.
We could have something much more sinister going on.
I'm worried 'cause she's got osteoarthritis
that we essentially can't clear her spine.
(SIREN WAILS)
Intensive care paramedic Bill
is racing to a patient who has suddenly collapsed in a street.
Carolyn's heart has stopped
and she is now in a potentially fatal cardiac arrest.
MICHAEL: (ON PHONE)
Still on the line to the Emergency Operations Centre
is the man who found her.
Michael has never performed CPR until today.
Let the chest come all the way up between pumps.
As Michael desperately searches for her pulse,
a neighbour has also stopped to help.
WOMAN: (ON PHONE)
MICHAEL: (ON PHONE)
What's happening with her at the moment?
WOMAN: (ON PHONE)
MICHAEL: (ON PHONE)
So keep doing compressions.
Keep going until they tell you to stop.
You're doing really well.
MAN: (ON PHONE)
The first paramedic crew are now at the scene
and Bill is only minutes from the life-and-death emergency.
BILL: In ambulance world,
we talk about something called the chain of survival
and bystander CPR is one of the most important links
in that chain of survival.
The most important minutes are those first few
and the fact that Carolyn has had bystander CPR
is nothing short of amazing.
As I'm driving down the street, I can see Carolyn.
I can see about five ambos doing CPR on her.
Bill will now lead the team
as they desperately try to keep Carolyn alive.
Yep.
Yep. Alright.
Meanwhile, a badly shaken Michael is still reliving the ordeal.
She's pulled up at the same time
I was pulling up in front of my property.
She had the window down and signalled out to me
and she said she wasn't well,
so my son and I went inside to get some water for her,
came back out, by which stage she'd collapsed
and hit her head on the ground
and her lips were turning blue and her ears were turning blue.
So I rang 000 and they talked me through compressions.
Right now it feels surreal that, you know, I had to do it.
But at the end of the day,
you've just got to get in and help, I guess.
Cool.
OK.
Oh, got ROSC? Fantastic.
I find out that she's had three shocks from our monitor,
so that's three defibrillations.
We were able to gain ROSC,
which is return of spontaneous circulation,
basically meaning that her heart has been able to be restarted.
Do you want this on?
WOMAN: OK.
We still don't know why
she's actually gone into cardiac arrest in the first place,
whether it be a heart attack given her age,
so not knowing this information is quite concerning,
but keeping her alive
and not letting her go back into cardiac arrest
is our most important job at the moment.
Yeah. I can do that.
To avoid another near-death episode,
the team need to take over Carolyn's breathing.
An intubation is one of the most dangerous procedures
paramedics can do.
Suction? Yep.
BILL: An intubation is a very high-risk skill.
If you can imagine you're in a hospital
with, say, an anaesthetist,
they're on a bed which can be put in the right height,
on the right angle, with the right lighting
before this skill happens...
Suction if you need it.
..so to perform an intubation in the middle of the road,
for someone who's just come out of cardiac arrest and is at high risk
is something that takes a lot of courage to do.
But we know that this patient needs it to be able to save their life.
So, on Ben's count.
'Cause she's got the osteoarthritis and she's older,
I don't think we can actually clear her neck.
NARRATOR: 75-year-old Jennifer
has had a potentially life-changing fall at church
in front of her loving hubby, Johnny.
Worst-case scenario for Jennifer is that she's fractured her spine
and that could affect her for the rest of her life.
Johnny would be devastated.
I could feel the split.
What does it look like at the top, Sal?
It's around there somewhere.
Oh. Yeah, I can see it there.
Just there. There we go. Yeah.
You might need a few staples in that.
'Cause you've got osteoarthritis... Yes.
..it kind of elevates your risk
for, like, a bony injury to your neck.
Yes, I know.
So, what we're going to do is get you onto a board
and then get you onto the bed that way.
OK.
I was worried that my skirt was falling down.
Oh, no.
You are completely covered up.
Incredibly modest.
And I will keep it that way, OK? No worries.
Poor Jennifer's worried that her skirt's up
and I'd be worried too if I took a tumble
that I wasn't flashing anyone, especially at church.
With such a tricky extrication,
a second crew has arrived to assist...
We're ready? Yes. I'm ready.
..as Jennifer's worried hubby Johnny watches on.
On three.
One, two, three.
Oh!
I've got it.
Oh! Oh...
It's really important that we move Jennifer slowly.
On the count of three, we're all going to lift up.
When you see us up, you just push the bed straight underneath.
We take our time... One, two, three.
..because any sort of sudden movement could make things
a whole lot worse for her.
My head. Oh!
SA Ambulance. Tell me exactly what's happened.
MAN: (ON PHONE)
OK.
Back at the Emergency Operations Centre,
a call's come in from a young man in trouble.
OK.
Alright. I'm organising help for you now.
Don't move around unless it's absolutely necessary.
(DASHBOARD CHIMES)
(SIREN WAILS)
Already on the road,
paramedics Laura and Aaron head to the unlucky rider.
He was mountain-biking.
Went over a 2m drop and hit his head and hurt his back.
Oh, OK. 2m.
It's a pretty reasonable drop.
Might have been going pretty quick if he was mountain biking as well.
Exactly.
When we hear about this guy that's fallen 2m off an embankment,
the obvious biggest concern for me is a head injury
and a spinal injury.
But we also need to think,
does he have a fractured pelvis or any fractured legs?
Can he walk? Can he move?
(SIREN WAILS)
One of my friends actually just died a couple months ago
from a mountain bike accident.
Oh, my God, that's awful. Yeah, it was in the news.
He landed, went over the handlebars in the air,
landed on his head, snapped his spinal cord.
Extreme sports have the word 'extreme' in front of them,
I guess, for a reason.
And when events like that happen,
you get slapped in the face pretty hard
and reminded quickly that it is a split-second decision
that can change someone's life.
(SIREN WAILS)
I find it really hard with parks
because of all the different entrances.
With their patient unable to move, every second counts.
I got it on Google Maps. Keep going straight up here.
LAURA: I'm feeling stressed.
When we get dispatched to a national park,
it's one of the first things we think about...
Turn left.
..getting in and getting out and actually finding the patient.
Straight? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Straight, straight.
We don't really know where we're going into,
so all I'm thinking is we're not going fast enough.
I'm feeling a little bit of pressure
and, yeah, we're racing against the clock.
Have you got midaz sorted? Not yet.
Intensive care paramedic Bill and the team are intubating Carolyn
after she collapsed on the road and needed life-saving CPR.
Alright, so we've just got some gagging on the tube,
so we've got midaz.
We'll grab some fent for you as well.
The invasive procedure allows the paramedics
to take over Carolyn's breathing
in a bid to stop her going back into cardiac arrest.
Alright, so, adrenaline infusion.
What's her pressure? Do we know?
Yeah. Do you need that sedation? Yeah.
Got midaz right here.
Yeah, it sounds like she's intubated already.
Yeah.
BILL: Carolyn's been intubated successfully, which is fantastic.
We have stabilised her as best as we can.
Let's go through top to bottom,
make sure that we're set before we move.
So, airway's sorted. Breathing, you've listened, everything's happy.
Yep. Getting a positive end tidal.
Lovely. Have we listened to the chest auscultation?
We have. Cool. So that's clear.
Have we done a 12 lead?
You've done a 12 lead ECG? Have we got changes?
We do have some significant depression,
so we might have a posterior.
The ECG is showing warning signs
that Carolyn is now having another heart attack.
The pressure is mounting.
When we move her, she will start to get agitated again.
Yeah.
And we've still got four of midaz.
On one, two, three. Roll.
BILL: Our biggest fear for Carolyn
is that her body does start to shut down again
and her heart does give up and goes back into cardiac arrest.
After three. One, two, three. Lift.
And even though we are only ten minutes drive from hospital
on a lights-and-sirens drive,
this patient's still got a really long way to go
until we get there.
Sat rate has dropped.
(BEEP) WOMAN: SA Ambulance.
So, tell me exactly what's happened.
WOMAN: (ON PHONE) Oh...
MAN: (ON PHONE)
Oh...
OK.
NARRATOR: At the Emergency Operations Centre,
a very worried neighbour is on the line.
WOMAN: (ON PHONE) Oh!
WOMAN: We're going to have help come very quickly, OK?
Oh!
(SIREN WAILS)
Intensive care paramedic Dan
is now on his way to the critically ill 89-year-old.
Apparently, she's short of breath
to the point that she's gasping for air,
can barely talk.
So it would seem that her pneumonia has worsened
and at her age,
she probably doesn't have a lot left in the tank to fight it.
With the recent pneumonia,
I'm concerned that she's got an acute lack of oxygen
to all her vital organs, including her brain.
But to truly be gasping for your last breath
must be absolutely frightening.
Sort of see it their eyes - they're obviously very grateful
for when you arrive and help them out.
BEN: Let's have a look at you. When did this start?
Paramedic Ben and intern Audrey
have arrived just ahead of Dan and are urgently assessing Helen
to work out what's causing her breathing difficulties.
(WOMAN CALLS OUT)
BEN: She looks as sick as a person can look.
You can feel her heart is going like a drum.
Before I even take her blood pressure or her pulse,
I already know that I need an intensive care paramedic.
DAN: Hello, guys.
This is Helen.
With no sign of a lung infection and Helen complaining of chest pain,
the team are worried the grandmother could have a heart problem.
There you go. That will probably explain it.
Oh, yeah.
Rapid AF, is it?
That'll probably affect her BP and chest pain.
Helen's heart is in the dangerous rhythm
atrial fibrillation, also known as AF.
Darling, I know you're in pain.
Helen's heart rate is pushing right up in the high 100s,
which means that her heart is working harder but less efficiently.
BEN: You can have a lay down on your side.
That's it. Have a lay down there.
That's it.
When the heart fails, the body will fail.
You're alright, my love.
We're going to look after you, alright?
Oh, God. Am I going to follow him down there?
Yeah. We'll work this out.
Paramedics Laura and Aaron
are searching the bushland for their injured patient.
Maybe just stay here
because it doesn't look like much room there.
The 20-year-old man was riding with friends
when he crashed down an embankment, hitting his head.
Are we going to be able to get back up?
Alright.
AARON: We're in a 2.5-tonne ambulance.
It's getting steeper and we can't just go down.
We have to get back up and out.
Oh, yeah. We'll be alright.
Easy.
My name is Laura. Hey. Hudson.
Hello, mate. How are you?
Oh, probably a bit better than you.
When we arrive, I see our patient
lying in the middle of one of the fire roads.
And first of all, he's not down an embankment,
so that thought's gone through my mind.
So how did you get here?
Yep.
Take some regular breaths in and out for me.
I might start taking some of your... Vitals.
You're protective... Oh, yeah. Totally, yeah.
It's good you got your protective stuff on.
Yeah. I knew I was gonna crash.
You have cracked your entire helmet.
You have hit that hard.
I'll show you the photo if you want.
When we go to a mountain bike accident,
the first thing we look at is the safety gear.
And I see Hudson's helmet and it's completely cracked through.
It's split open.
If you didn't have this on,
you would have been a whole different man.
It did.
You've got no significant pain in your legs or anything like that?
Yeah.
AARON: When Hudson tells me he's got a lot of pain in his back,
I'm worried about spinal fractures or any spinal injury.
Can you lift each arm up?
Alright.
Perfect. You got good control.
You don't have any tingling in your legs?
Any pins and needles? Nothing... Altered sensations?
Anything like that? Cool.
After a thorough assessment, Aaron is satisfied there's no spinal injuries.
Hudson is now cleared to be moved to the stretcher.
Alright. I think we might sit him up.
Mmm. That will hurt, but...
we can also give you pain relief at the same time.
It will. It will sort of make you, depending on....
We're giving Hudson penthrane, or the green whistle.
It's a minor form of pain relief
that helps take the edge off everything.
It's going to relax his mind from the situation
and just make his journey to the ambulance
a bit more comfortable.
Alright, when you're ready, we'll help you up.
So, take your time. (GROANS)
BILL: So, we've had a rate drop.
Intensive care paramedic Bill is worried
61-year-old Carolyn is about to go back into cardiac arrest.
Get the arm out, actually.
Oh, beautiful.
Just there.
Did you get it after this side?
I think so.
Basically, she was driving, stepped out.
Someone's witnessed her go into arrest.
The critically ill patient was found on the street
and local resident Michael restarted her heart with CPR.
The hero is still watching on
as Carolyn continues to fight for her life.
You don't expect to see that every day.
We got the lady's ID out of her car.
You know, I don't know if it was helpful,
but at least I was talking to her by name and saying, you know,
"Carolyn, can you... Can you help out?
"Can you stay with us a little bit?"
Happy to get up a little bit? Yeah, yeah.
You go. I'll come with you.
The ambos have told me that we've given her the best chance
of getting through the night, so hopefully she'll be OK.
Our rate is...
Let's get her blood pressure going.
Where's that adrenaline infusion going?
That was sitting just there.
Is it there? Yeah.
Beautiful. He's got it going.
So, Ben, do you just want to go through top to bottom,
make sure we've got everything sorted before we move?
BEN: Yeah.
I've just started the adrenaline infusion at five mikes a minute
because we have had a rate drop.
Let's quickly check that post the move.
MAN: Yeah. Cool.
Yep. Sounds good.
Yep. That sounds good.
And let's get sats on. Yep.
In someone that's come back from the dead and is post-cardiac arrest,
they're going to be our most unstable and unpredictable patient,
so changes in anything in terms of their heart rate could be vital.
Bill, Ben, you're good? Happy whenever, mate.
BILL: Keeping Carolyn alive
and not allowing her to go back into cardiac arrest
is our most important job right now.
BP's down a bit.
(SIREN WAILS)
WOMAN: Yep.
Are you ready? One, two, three.
And back. One, two, three.
There we go.
NARRATOR: Paramedics Sally and Olivia
are preparing to move 75-year-old Jennifer
after a nasty fall at church
left her with possible head and spinal injuries.
As Jennifer's loaded into the ambulance,
worried hubby Johnny...
Can I swap...? Yeah, absolutely.
..just wants to be as close as he can to his beloved wife.
Just I'm shaking half the time.
You a bit shaky? You shouldn't drive.
Yeah. She's OK.
Yeah. I know it looks like a lot.
But it's just...as a precaution. Yeah.
We just want to make sure that we will handle her appropriately.
Alright?
I'm looking at Johnny
and he knows that one day one of them's not going to be there
for the other.
And in this moment, he probably thinks it's Jennifer.
He's probably thinking, "What am I going to do without my Jenny?
"I can't live life without her."
How bad is your pain in your lower back and in your hand
out of ten?
Eight for my back.
OLIVIA: For Jennifer, I would be worried
that if she had a lower back or neck fracture,
that she might not be able to live at home anymore.
And for Jennifer, that could be life-changing.
You'd better tell my husband which hospital.
He's sitting in the front. Oh, Johnny!
Oh, darling.
He's up here with me.
Oh, goody.
SALLY: We've got Jenny in the back and we've got Johnny up the front.
I don't know, darling.
And they're calling out to each other
to make sure that each other's OK.
Oh, really?
So she saved the best for last.
Every day's a good day with her?
Aw! That's beautiful!
That is so cute.
Johnny? Yes, love.
They're so in love with each other.
Brings a little tear to my eye.
Johnny and Jen.
Only one good thing about her?
She's got osteoarthritis in her fingers
and when she points at me, they bend the other way.
(LAUGHS)
He's telling her stories about me.
He definitely is.
Oh, naughty boy. That's alright.
You can give him a little clip behind the ears or something.
(WOMEN LAUGH)
You can certainly tell that there's three decades
of marriage right here, just with their banter.
Love that.
That kind of restores my faith a little bit in love.
I'm recently divorced. 23 years, I was married for, with five kids.
And if Johnny and Jen can find love for a second or third time,
then I think there's hope for me yet.
How's your pain if it was an eight out of ten before?
Oh, it's quietened down.
OK.
At the hospital, Jennifer will get a really thorough assessment.
Just watch your step.
Given the way Jennifer fell, given how many risk factors she has,
it would not surprise me at all to learn
that Jennifer's done quite a significant spinal injury.
JOHNNY: It's me, love. Hello, darling.
Just pop your arms across your chest for us, Jen.
No matter what the outcome is of this fall,
it'll be a really tough road ahead.
Come this way.
I really do hope that she recovers quickly
and gets back home to Johnny as soon as possible
so they can keep hanging shit on each other.
SALLY: You're right. Watch your shoulder there.
Have a seat on there, big fella.
Paramedics Aaron and Laura are treating 20-year-old Hudson
after he crashed off his mountain bike.
LAURA: It's going to be a bit bumpy, alright?
With the young bike rider on board, it's now Laura in the hot seat.
We've just got to get out of here. I wish you luck.
Well, you're in the back with me and Laura's...
Laura's driving. I mean, we're fine.
I don't know about that.
I'm a bit nervous.
Are you good to go?
And... Turn around.
What did I tell you? Yeah.
To get out, the road is quite steep and narrow
and quite rocky and slippery.
I feel like of high from this. Whoa!
It's probably open. (LAUGHS) Sorry, guys.
I think you gotta actually go pretty quick up that big hill.
OK. Just 'cause it's pretty steep.
Full throttle. Full tilt.
All I'm thinking and telling Laura
is just put your foot to the floor and get us out of here.
Oh...
OK. Yeah. We're good.
There we go.
You know, Hudson, never a doubt in my mind.
Thankfully, it was a lot easier than I envisioned.
Have you been riding your bike long? No.
No? Not at all.
Are you gonna get back on it again? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
You know what, though, I've just remembered,
that I don't reckon Laura can ride a bike.
(LAUGHS) Am I right?
You're not wrong. (LAUGHS)
I can ride it straight. I just don't really like steering.
I get that.
So, what she's saying is... Yep.
..she can't ride a bike. LAURA: I can ride a bike.
I'm just not very good at it.
We just arrived.
Yeah. You go in. I'll be back in a sec.
Take your time.
Can't ride a bike? (LAUGHS) OK.
As we get Hudson to hospital,
he's gonna need X-rays to rule out any minor fractures.
Hudson, we're going in.
I think at this stage,
the likelihood of internal bleeding is quite small.
But let's face it, Hudson can count his lucky stars.
He got away lightly.
All good.
BEN: Your pain out of ten, ten is the worst pain...
What would you give it? Ten.
Ten. Alright.
There's definitely irregularities there. It's going to be AF.
Dan and Ben have just discovered
89-year-old Helen is in atrial fibrillation,
a dangerously fast and irregular heart rhythm.
Joe there. Is that your neighbour?
WOMAN: Outside. Yeah. He's waiting for you outside.
Next door neighbour Joe called for an ambulance
when Helen phoned him, gasping for breath.
She was bent over, doubled over,
sitting on the edge of the bed. (IMITATES GASPING)
I said, Helen, "Are you right?"
She said, "Oh, I can't breathe properly.
"I can't breathe properly."
He's a good next door neighbour, looking after you.
I know.
Your heart's going very, very fast
and they can fix that at the hospital.
Alright, let's have this arm. We're going to lift you up.
I know you don't feel good.
By the time we get out there... Alright.
Are we ready to slide our way out?
DAN: It's one thing for us to take blood pressures, heart rates,
but we have to remember that when somebody is so anxious
and distressed,
probably the best treatment we have is the way we talk to them.
Do you reckon you can shimmy your bum just onto this little bit here?
Ready? One, two, three. Nice. Cuddled by a British gentleman.
Oh... Alright.
Gentleman's a stretch. Yeah, it is, it is.
Fake it till you make it, I say. (LAUGHS)
Well played.
Alright, we'll get you up and about.
Is that OK, sitting like that? Yeah?
It's not too hard on your breathing?
Oh...
Helen urgently needs treatment to stabilise her heart rate.
Little bump, love.
I can see how scared Helen looks.
and I just want to let her know it's going to be OK.
But deep down, she knows she's unwell,
I know she's unwell, so we need to move as quickly as possible.
You're alright, my love. You're alright.
DAN: How do you feel your breathing is going?
Not good?
NARRATOR: Paramedics Dan and Ben
are preparing to take 89-year-old Helen to hospital.
The grandmother has an irregular racing heartbeat
that's starving her body of vital blood and oxygen.
Let me just grab your arm here. That's it.
Oh... Little blood pressure.
Oh...
With Helen's blood pressure still worryingly low,
Dan prepares to boost it with additional fluid,
but suddenly there's an unexpected change.
Oh.
As you know... That heart rate's a little bit better.
I look at the monitor
and her heart arrhythmia has naturally gone to a lower rate.
And I'm thinking "I've just won the lotto."
So, what are we at now? 112.
112? Perfect.
Oh, yes. Your pulse is better too.
And how would you say your breathing is now?
A little... Little... Little...
Little bit better. You're talking a lot better now.
This is good.
Let's go, mate.
It's amazing, she's far more comfortable.
She's not as short of breath
and we can have a good old conversation.
(LAUGHS) I hope my grammar is correct, miss.
What subjects did you love teaching? Drama and English.
Drama. Oh, and now English...
My son, he is struggling, learning 'Macbeth'.
(LAUGHS) Yeah.
Did you like your Shakespeare?
No, not particularly. No.
I found him quite dull in parts. Yeah.
It's a dreadful subject to have to try and teach any kid.
DAN: Here I am, making assumptions
that Helen would be all for Shakespeare
with her teaching background.
But no, she was on the side of my son.
I reckon I would have enjoyed your class.
Most of them did.
There was a couple that, no matter what you did,
they're going to be smartarses.
(LAUGHS) Absolutely.
Yeah. That would have been me.
At hospital, doctors will closely monitor
the feisty 89-year-old's heart
to make sure it doesn't go back into a dangerously fast rhythm.
Absolutely.
Beautiful.
That's a good aim.
A very classy girl.
DAN: I really hope that Helen can recover from this
and can make it to that 90th birthday
and have that glass of champagne with her family and friends.
I count myself privileged
that I was able to meet her and to have those chats.
I've met a real gem in Helen.
Let's do it.
Let's get you inside.
OK.
(SIREN WAILS)
So adrenaline fusion's going. That bag's full.
Intensive care paramedic Bill is frantically working on Carolyn
to stop her going back into cardiac arrest.
So, yeah, we have dropped our pressure.
We are down to 80. Let's up that, I reckon, to 15.
Our blood pressure of 80 may not be that low,
but for someone that's come back just from cardiac arrest,
100 would be the lowest that I'm happy with,
because we know that the lower the blood pressure is
in patients that are post-cardiac arrest,
the worse the outcome.
Sats at 98.
We need to increase that blood pressure with either fluid
or increasing that adrenaline infusion that we've got running.
So if she does rearrest, we do have the arm there.
Yep.
Sounds good.
We're prepared for anything to go wrong with Carolyn
on the way to hospital.
Good work, guys.
We've all got our roles and they're all really important,
from the driver getting us there safely
from the person at the airway seat, making them still breathing
and for me, with medications and blood pressure management
is all part of the puzzle to keep Carolyn alive.
She's a very lucky lady.
It was lucky that she was witnessed by bystanders
and then they actually called 000.
Unbelievable. Good on them.
Carolyn. You're doing very well, Carolyn.
You're currently in the back of an ambulance.
We're taking you to the hospital.
When you've got someone who's unconscious,
at the end of the day, I'm still sitting next to someone's mum,
I'm still sitting next to someone's sister,
someone's daughter, someone's friend.
Ben's sitting just behind you.
If it was one of my family members,
I'd want to make sure
that my family member's being looked after properly,
being talked through everything that's happening to them.
Alright. We're pulling up now.
I'm just making sure that I'm being another good human being
to another
and helping her through this awful time in her life.
We just need to monitor and we're good.
There's just sats up. Yep.
BILL: It's hard to tell what the next steps in hospital will be
because we don't even know why
Carolyn has gone into cardiac arrest in the first place.
But she will be seen in Emergency.
She will be seen by cardiac doctors, neurology doctors and the works.
And she'll probably spend a long period of time in ICU
and hopefully, with all my fingers and toes crossed,
she will have a positive outcome
and walk out of hospital some day in the near future.
I'm worried that we essentially can't clear her spine.
NARRATOR: Paramedics Sally and Olivia
feared 75-year-old Jennifer...
My head feels sore.
..could have head and spinal injuries after a nasty fall at church.
JOHNNY: She's had about five falls in the past 12 months.
Hubby Johnny feared the worst...
He's probably thinking "I can't live life without her."
..and just wanted to be by the side of the woman he loves.
Every day, it's good. Every day, it's good.
Aw! That's beautiful!
Fortunately, at hospital,
Jennifer's spine was given the all-clear
and her head wound was stapled together.
Much to Johnny's relief,
the couple were able to return home later that day
and are looking forward to making more loving memories together.
WOMAN: I need to lie down.
Paramedics Dan and Ben were called to 89-year-old Helen
after she began fighting for breath.
DAN: Rapid AF, is it?
That will probably affect her BP and chest pain.
They discovered she had a dangerously irregular heartbeat,
starving her body of oxygen.
BEN: Your heart's going very, very fast
and they can fix that at the hospital
But once in the ambulance...
That heart rate's a little bit better.
..the feisty Helen made a remarkable recovery.
Absolutely.
Beautiful. That's a good aim.
So we want to have a cheers to Mum. I'm going around, get emotional.
Happy 90th birthday, Mum.
ALL: Cheers.
Sadly, Helen didn't make it to her milestone birthday,
but today her family have gathered
to share precious memories of a special lady.
Today is a celebration of her life. It was nearly 90 years.
Mum came good initially
but the body was starting to let her down and she passed away.
She would be loving this.
She'll be looking down, I reckon.
She'd come out with some quirky things sometimes
and inappropriate stories. (LAUGHS)
I will miss her tremendously.
I just wish she was here.
That's all.
You have cracked your entire helmet. Oh.
You have hit that hard.
20-year-old Hudson flew off his mountain bike
in a national park,
crashing down a 2m embankment, smacking his head.
It did.
While it was a close call for the not-very-coordinated bike rider,
Aaron and Laura still needed to get him to hospital
for a thorough check-over.
Take your time. (GROANS)
And once in the ambulance, there was more thrillseeking
as Laura used her off-road skills to get them out of the bushland.
I feel kind of high from this. Whoa!
At hospital, scans showed no head or spinal injuries
and after three weeks of rest,
Hudson was soon proudly back in the saddle.
So we're going to go one, two, three, four.
Four months ago, frightened bystander Michael called 000
when he found 61-year-old Carolyn suffering a cardiac arrest.
Michael's heroic CPR saved her life.
MICHAEL: She's got a breath.
Have you got midaz sorted?
Intensive care paramedic Bill led a major response team
to get the critically ill grandmother to hospital.
But there were major fears Carolyn wouldn't survive the ordeal.
BILL: You just never know what the outcome may be,
whether Carolyn will live or whether she will die.
As ambos, we always hope for the best
and I'll remember her face forever.
It's a really great reminder to live every day as well as you can
because you never know what's around the corner.
And for Carolyn, that was definitely the case.
Hello. Hello.
How are you? Good. How are you?
A lot better now. (BOTH LAUGH)
In hospital, Carolyn's life hung in the balance for days
with the odds stacked against her.
BILL: Carolyn really is a miracle.
To be able to see that she's here and hug her
is something special and something I'll never forget.
You're looking fantastic. Thank you. Thank you.
Looking very different to the last time I saw you.
I know. That was a big day.
Absolutely. Not that I remember it.
(LAUGHS) Yeah, well, I remember it very clearly.
Yeah. At least one of us does.
Carolyn now has an internal cardiac defibrillator
and is well on the way to a full recovery.
So there's someone else that was there on that day.
His name was Michael.
He's the guy who actually saved your life and called 000.
Yeah. Would you like to meet him?
I would.
He's just behind you.
Hi, Carolyn. How are you?
Oh, I'm so pleased to see you up and about.
Thank you.
I'm glad I could do my little bit for you.
Thank you.
I wasn't going to cry.
Oh, I think there's always a big chance that was going to happen.
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
CAROLYN: I know without Michael I wouldn't be here.
It's just really still raw, emotional for me.
And I think it's always going to be. Mmm.
I know it's been a while, but I just needed the time.
Of course you did. Yeah.
Yeah. But we're doing really well now.
Thank you so much.
I actually don't see myself as a hero at all.
Being able to meet Carolyn was really emotional.
She couldn't stop saying thank you
and that sort of does make you feel a bit proud.
Bill, I thank you so much. That's alright.
Michael, you are my guardian angel.
Well, I did what I could for you and...
Yeah, we'll always have that connection.
Absolutely. Absolutely. We will.
I'm going to be here hopefully to see my granddaughter grow up
and to spend more time with my family
and...yeah, I'm just alive.
(LAUGHTER)
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Captioned by AI-Media ai-media.tv