Hold Me Tight

Alistair works to stabilise his patient Paul’s multiple injuries and comfort the patient who is screaming in pain, whilst he waits for an ambulance crew to back him up. Once the crew arrive, they help to transport Paul from the ground to the ambulance. As they travel to the closest major trauma centre, Alistair gets to know Paul, discovering that he is a recovering addict and is inspired to hear about how he has turned his life around.

The clinicians on the critical care desk listen in to the most serious of calls in order to decide if they require a specialist paramedic. As the shift begins, a call from a worried mother who says they have found their child not breathing is prioritised. Specialist paramedic Alistair is immediately dispatched to support a crew just arriving on scene. As Alistair travels on blue lights and sirens, control receive a welcome update that the child is not as poorly as first imagined, initiating a stand down for critical care. The team’s relief is palpable as they reflect on the situation being 'every parent’s worst nightmare'.

In control today, it is married couple Katie and Stav who are responsible for 60 ambulances across West Yorkshire, including Wakefield crewmates Isbah and Nando and Castleford crew, Jeff and Eddie. The Castleford crew are dispatched to their first patient, a 51-year-old dialysis patient with suspected renal failure. After completing an ECG, the crew fear the patient could go into cardiac arrest so is in need of urgent treatment at hospital. After handing the patient over to hospital staff, Jeff becomes overwhelmed. He confides to Eddie how much the job has triggered him, sharing that he lost his father to renal failure during COVID.

In Garforth, crewmates Isbah and Nando are sent to care for an 83-year-old patient at a doctor’s surgery, struggling with light-headedness and a high pulse rate of 160bpm. While they assess the patient, they learn she suffers from dementia and is solely cared for by her husband of 27 years.

As the day shift draws to a close, Jeff and Eddie are attending their final patient of the shift; a male patient with difficulty in breathing. Despite advice from the crew, the patient declines a trip to hospital and instead, the crew arrange for a doctor’s prescription to help alleviate his symptoms – which fortunately is swiftly collected by his friend travelling on her mobility scooter.

As a new 12-hour shift begins, Jeff and Eddie are dispatched to a patient who has fallen with an injury to her hip. The crew arrive to find the female patient outside her home complaining of a severe pain to her hip. The patient explains she was recently in a car accident and suffered multiple fractures and she’s fearful this could be a setback in her long journey to recovery.

Meanwhile in Wakefield, Isbah and Nando are dispatched to the town hall for a 75-year-old female who has collapsed and is supported on scene by a worried friend. As they travel to hospital the patient talks of her battle with grief and anxiety, leading Isbah to share stories of her personal traumas which she experienced in her 20s.

As his shift draws to a close, Alistair is dispatched to help 62-year-old Jon, a terminally ill cancer patient who is nearing the end of his life. Arriving on scene, Alistair finds John gravely unwell and delicately supports his worried family as they come to terms with the reality of their dad’s prognosis. Determined to help John, Alistair is focused on making John as comfortable as possible as he rings the local hospice and asks for them to admit him. The family are grateful for Alistair’s support in a difficult time.

This episode explores how illness and injury can impact and shape the lives of not only patients, but also those working on the front line. We see crews confronted with stories which parallel their own, and witness how they draw on their personal experiences to bring empathy, reassurance, and hope to others navigating their own pain.