Ambulance

In this second episode, one hour into the night shift with West Midlands Ambulance Service and the control centre is already on its third cardiac arrest. The highly-skilled MERIT team are administering care to a patient who has been stabbed and is bleeding heavily, the forth stabbing victim the service has dealt with so far this Friday night. But it’s not these high priority calls that take up the most time – just 4 miles away, another crew must stay with an elderly man long after they have treated him as they’ve spotted he’s run out of vital medication and no one else is available at this time of night to organise a refill of his medication. A family at their wit’s end and with nowhere else to turn, asks the ambulance service for help with their relative who’s an alcoholic and refusing medical attention despite their heart-felt pleas. It’s not immediately life-threatening but ties up the ambulance crew for hours and is a poignant reminder for paramedic Maya of her own experiences of living alongside relatives struggling with addiction, “hurt people, hurt people”, she says.