Wed, Jun 12, 2013
There's a revolution happening in the way life-threatening injuries are being treated across the country. This series follows every step of the groundbreaking 'chain of survival' for life-threatening injuries, designed to save hundreds of extra lives every year. The first regional 'major trauma network' to become fully operational opens its doors to Life Savers, to capture the complete story of patients' journeys from the roadside, through life-saving surgery, to recovery. Based in the world-famous Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, this powerful documentary series captures the drama at the very limits of frontline medicine. Early on a Saturday evening, a high-speed, head-on collision on a country road triggers the new system. The wreckage traps a family of three in one car and a single driver in another. Forty firefighters and six ambulances are already on scene, but they need the advanced medical skills of Dr Auden Langhelle and Neil Flowers to help release them. At Addenbrookes, consultant-in-charge Rod Mackenzie receives the news and prepares his new system for its biggest test so far. As the four patients travel along the chain of survival - from the emergency department, through the scanner, intensive care, surgery and beyond - it becomes clear the most critical is the mother from the family. She needs an operation at the scene of the accident to save her, and puts the new life-saving system to the ultimate test. The system is triggered again for another car accident: a 24-year-old has crashed through a brick wall at 50 mph. For every ten life-threatening injuries brought to Addenbrookes, eight happen on the region's roads. Yet another collision proves the system cannot save everyone, and one patient has to be told that a partner and father was 'pronounced life extinct at scene.' With film crews embedded with air ambulances, the emergency department, critical care units and operating theatres, Life Savers reveals as never before the real-life drama of frontline emergency medicine.
Wed, Jun 19, 2013
This episode explores how the network rushes critical patients to the world-famous hub at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, and the difficult decisions doctors face when trying to save a life. Specially trained emergency medics Adam and Neil are sent to a car that has hit a tree at speed. The driver is trapped in the wreckage by his legs, and the risk of massive bleeding the moment he is released means Adam takes control of the scene. At Addenbrookes, the emergency department receives two patients from another car that has hit a tree. The driver, Daniel, has severe chest injuries, but even more worrying is his dislocated spine. He is unable to feel or move his legs, and spinal surgeon Rikin Trevedi knows he needs to operate fast to give him a chance of walking again. But when Daniel is on the operating table, his breathing deteriorates and Rikin and his colleagues face the toughest of dilemmas: whether trying to save the use of his legs is worth risking his life. Air ambulance medic Nick Foster is scrambled to a woman who has been thrown from her horse onto concrete. He is concerned she has broken her pelvis and could risk life-threatening, internal bleeding. In a scenario where every moment counts, the helicopter rushes her directly to the specialists at Addenbrookes. With film crews embedded with air ambulances, the emergency department, critical care units and operating theatres, Life Savers reveals as never before the real-life drama of frontline emergency medicine.
Mon, Jun 24, 2013
In the final episode of this powerful series the focus is on the highly skilled specialists at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, ready to deal with any life threatening injury. Life Savers reveals the revolutionary new system designed to save hundreds of extra lives every year by following the country's first fully operational regional Major Trauma Network all the way from the roadside, through life saving surgery, to rehab. Critical Care paramedic Dan Cody rushes to help seventeen-year-old Molly who's lying in agony on a busy road, having been knocked off her moped on the way home from college. Her broken leg and badly smashed pelvis means she needs Dan's drugs, far more potent than carried by normal ambulance crews. At hospital, surgeon Julian Owen discovers her hip is even worse than originally thought - she has a long and dangerous operation ahead of her. Dr Adam Chesters is on duty in the Emergency Department when a highly critical patient is transferred to Addenbrookes with a head injury. David has been attacked around the head with a hammer in a horrific assault. For a couple of days he is able to talk and brain specialist Peter Hutchinson is hopeful. But as his condition deteriorates, Peter must convey a less optimistic outlook to David's family. Nineteen-year-old Sam has also suffered a head injury, from a car crash. He's sped straight to surgery, where neuro specialist Damian Omato removes a large clot from his brain. His life has been saved, and the degree of brain damage remains to be seen on his journey through rehab. With film crews embedded with Air Ambulances, the Emergency Department, Critical Care Units and operating theatres, Life Savers reveals as never before the real-life drama of frontline emergency medicine.