Ambulance Catch up, Series 13: 6. No Room at A&E on BBC 1

Ambulance

Series 13: 6. No Room at A&E

Rising pressure on the NHS impacts local A&Es, with Croydon and St George's hospitals reaching capacity. As a result, control room dispatchers Ed and Webster have fewer resources to send out to the growing number of patients waiting. Meanwhile, in Wimbledon, paramedic Martin does his best to care for as many patients as he can.\n\nWe join call handlers answering a 999 call from a distressed mother after her baby accidentally poured boiling tea over himself. As mum tries to give first aid to the baby, the phone is passed to the caller’s eight-year-old daughter, who listens to the advice given by the call handler, while doing her best to provide as much detail as possible to help the ambulance that has been dispatched to the family.\n\nAlso on shift is advanced paramedic Andy. One of four critical care resources available to care for the whole of London, he is dispatched to a category 1 call – the highest priority – for an 86-year-old patient trapped under a car. Andy finds the patient on the ground with a cut to her head. While assessing the patient’s injuries, she explains how she was on her way to the hairdressers when she was knocked down.\n\nSupporting the ambulance crews on shift across Wimbledon and Croydon, dispatchers Webster and Ed are feeling the impact of hospital delays on their patch. While ambulances are stuck at hospital waiting to hand over, calls continue to come in, which means more patients in need of an urgent ambulance are kept waiting, but there are no resources available to send to them.\n\nAfter waiting an hour to hand over a patient at hospital, paramedic Lydia finally becomes available and is immediately dispatched to a 35-year-old man who is feeling suicidal and has already been kept waiting two and a half hours for an ambulance. Lydia takes the time to listen to the patient, who tells her he has become overwhelmed by fatherhood and the pressures of supporting his young family.\n\nAt the end of the school day, the fast response car, driven by paramedic Martin, is urgently dispatched to a three-year-old who has been hit by a vehicle outside a primary school. The child has thankfully walked away unscathed. In the back of the ambulance, the crews delight in his cheeky smile and his dream of growing up to become Spider-Man. As a father himself, Martin reflects: \

Source: BBC 1

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