Lost in the Woods

Helping to care for the five million people of the Yorkshire region today are crewmates Sam and Sophie. They have had a challenging start to the shift as their first job has required them to trek on foot through a forest in Bingley to locate a teenage patient suffering a seizure. Meanwhile in Huddersfield, community first responder Roy is booking on – the 74-year-old is one of 900 volunteers trained to administer life-saving treatment across the region.

Also on shift are crewmates Jordan and Josh. They are on their way to an 85-year-old female with chest pains when they are diverted to what they are told is a Category 1 call for an unconscious male patient in Halifax. However, the crew quickly realise the patient is in fact a regular caller to the ambulance service, who is conscious and complaining of some chest pain. In the last 30 days alone, he has made 25 separate calls to the ambulance service. After carrying out their necessary checks, the crew advise that it would be best if the patient agreed to be seen at hospital to rule out a heart attack – an offer he refuses.

As Jordan and Josh make their referrals, the 85-year-old patient with chest pains they were diverted from earlier is reassigned to community first responder Roy. While he awaits a crew for back-up, Roy carries out his assessments on the patient, calming her nerves, which helps bring down her blood pressure. After the crew arrive to begin treatment, Roy makes himself useful by rustling up a cup of tea for the patient – who tells him he has made it with not quite enough milk!

After Jordan and Josh go to their vehicle to update the clinical team that their patient is refusing to attend hospital, they return to his home and are surprised to find that he has changed his mind again and now accepts the offer of a trip to hospital. Before setting off, the crew help him get ready by combing his hair, and he tells them that he once worked with the rescue service in Morecambe.

The team in control are back for another 12 hours, and on the road, crewmates Jordan and Josh are also booking on for another day shift. It’s a busy start to the day – 300 emergency calls have been received in the last three hours, and demand is continuing to rise. A new call is received for a female patient in Runswick Bay who has fallen and has a suspected broken leg. Due to the remoteness of the location, the team in control contact the coastguard to help track her down quickly.

Meanwhile, a second call is received for a male patient who has fallen off his bike at Scammonden Reservoir; Jordan and Josh are dispatched. The patient has already waited 40 minutes for help, and it will take them another quarter of an hour to arrive. When they reach the patient, it is clear that his condition is deteriorating quickly, so the crew call for back-up to assist with extricating him from the remote location.

In Huddersfield, community first responder Roy is allocated to a Category 2 patient suffering with stroke-like symptoms. He is running 15 minutes ahead of the closest available ambulance crew and is quick to carry out a stroke test on the patient to help determine the cause of her right-sided weakness. Once the crew arrive, it’s agreed the safest thing to do is to take the patient to hospital as quickly as possible for treatment.

This episode shines a light on the unique challenges of delivering emergency care across one of the largest and most geographically diverse counties in the country. Across this vast area, the ambulance service often needs to rely on a network of trained and specialist volunteers. Community first responders, mountain rescue teams and even the coastguard play a vital role when ambulance crews are delayed, diverted or struggling to reach patients in difficult terrain. These volunteers are not just offering support, they are often the first calming presence, the first medical assessment and, at times, the first lifeline a patient receives.