Life Savers: Season 1, Episode 2

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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.