AMBULANCE: S05E01

Ambulance
Series 5 / Episode 1
Thursday 04 June 2020
BBC One
21:00

​A DRAGONFLY TELEVISION AND FILM PRODUCTION

NARRATOR: Christopher Eccleston
DIRECTOR: Stuart Froude
SERIES PRODUCER: Michael Ogden
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Tom Currie / Simon Ford

The shift begins with a call for a patient who has been stabbed in a park.  This is the 36th stabbing the ambulance personnel in Merseyside have treated in the past seven days.  Advanced Paramedic Rob is immediately dispatched, as well as a doctor and a further paramedic.  It’s not known whether the assailant is still in the vicinity and the crews wait at a standby point for confirmation that the scene is safe before heading to treat the victim.  After a tense wait the medicas are finally given the go-ahead from Merseyside Constabulary to approach the scene.

It’s three hours into the shift, and this weekend sees the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations hitting the streets of Liverpool.  Every year the party seems to get bigger and start earlier, so the ambulance service is prepared for a busy weekend.  Paul and Emma - who besides being crew mates are also a couple - are dispatched to help a 71 year-old patient who has fallen at home.

They are soon dispatched to the patient, who is struggling with chest pain, and discovering the patient's complex medical history, decide to take them to a nearby medical facility for further evaluation.  Emma bonds with her patient in the back of the ambulance - they have a home country in common and they share tales of how each of them came to find Liverpool from Ireland.

As the festivities get underway, Chris and V are sent to the Albert Dock to attend a patient with a suspected broken arm.  She’s also come from Ireland to Liverpool, but this time it’s only a quick trip to celebrate her 70th birthday, and she and her friend take an immediate shine to paramedic Chris.

Whilst the city of Liverpool continues to party, staff in control respond to an emergency call from two children whose father has lost consciousness.  They need to be talked carefully through the steps necessary to revive him.

The night shows no signs of slowing down. Chris and V are dispatched to another alcohol-related job for a male who’s been found collapsed on the floor, when control receive a call to a multiple stabbing in the centre of town.

It’s the early hours, and the lines are still exceptionally busy.  Control is receiving four calls a minute which means all call handlers are busy, forcing new calls into a queue.  However, when a alert is received for a patient who’s not breathing, an emergency procedure is triggered.  The call is subsequently passed to Shift Manager Mags, who talks the person who dialled 9-9-9 through how to perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), as Advanced Paramedic Rob is dispatched to the scene.

This episode vividly showcases the very special connections between Liverpool and the other side of the Irish Sea, but also demonstrates that the stories behind the sirens have a deep and lasting impact on the staff and crews of the ambulance service.