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In this episode Trauma Team Leader Julie Norton battles to save two patients whose lives hang in the balance. Ian, a father-of-four, is rushed in after suffering a cardiac arrest.  His wife Nikki is with him every step of the way as the team work quickly to stabilise him. But the worry is whether he has suffered any lasting brain damage when his heart stopped.  

Next a man arrives bleeding so heavily that he risks losing his entire circulatory system. Unless Julie and the team take immediate action, he could die.

Meanwhile, Georgia arrives in resus in severe pain. Clearly something is causing her acute distress – but what could it be? Can the team find out her mystery illness?

Ken is flown to the hospital via helicopter after falling from a roof and onto a skip. The impact has left him with a gaping wound to his thigh. But that’s not the only issue. He also has potentially life-threatening injuries to his pelvis and spine.  

Lastly, Michael has had a severe stroke and the blood supply to his brain is already shutting down.  But he’s in good hands - Dr Sanjeev Nayak, a pioneering stroke doctor, performs a thrombectomy to remove the clot in his brain giving him the best chance of survival.

Meet the team from Episode 3

Patient Stories

A Cheadle mum-of-two thought she was going to die after being struck down by excruciating pain from a mystery illness and being transferred by ambulance to University Hospital of North Midland’s Major Trauma Centre.

Georgia Forrester, of Froghall Road, Cheadle will feature in the third episode of 999 Critical Condition, the exclusive behind the scenes documentary charting the life-saving decisions of clinicians at Royal Stoke University Hospital.

Georgia was blue lighted by ambulance to Royal Stoke with extreme chest and back pain where doctors carried out a number of different investigations to find the source of the pain.

The 28-year-old said: “I was on my hands and knees and in absolute agony when I called 999 with crushing pain in my abdomen. It was like a tightening around my whiole body and really took my breath away. I have had two babies without pain relief and this pain was something else. I remember thinking in the ambulance that I was a gonna!”

In the episode doctors desperately try to find the cause of her pain with Dr Andrew Bennett, claiming initial results have thrown a “spanner in the works” and put him “back to square one” when they come back inconclusive

She added: “I stayed in hospital for two days and had a number of tests and they all came back clear and didn’t know what was wrong with me.”

Georgia has now been diagnosed with sphincter of oddi dysfunction, a condition which creates a build-up of digestives juices in the pancreas and liver and can lead to abdominal pain.

Also in this episode Trauma Team Leader Dr Julie Norton battles to save two patients whose lives hang in the balance. A father-of-four, is rushed in after suffering a cardiac arrest but the worry is whether he has suffered any lasting brain damage when his heart stopped. 

Next a man arrives bleeding so heavily that he risks losing his entire circulatory system.

After falling from a roof and onto a skip a patient is left him with a gaping wound to his thigh. But he also has potentially life-threatening injuries to his pelvis and spine.  

Lastly, Michael has had a severe stroke and the blood supply to his brain is already shutting down.  Dr Sanjeev Nayak, UHNM stroke doctor, performs a thrombectomy to remove the clot in his brain giving him the best chance of survival.

999 Critical Condition is on Channel 5 on Thursday 8 October at 9pm.

A North Staffordshire father-of-four was rushed to University Hospital of North Midlands’ major trauma centre after his heart stopped and he collapsed at home.

Ian Barton was found by his daughter after suffering a cardiac arrest in his Meir Heath home and will feature in tonight’s gripping episode of 999 Critical Condition on Channel 5 at 9pm.

Ian, a former engineer in the Royal Navy and who now works at JCB, was transferred to the major trauma centre at Royal Stoke University Hospital and as the team of medics and nurses battle to save his life, the worry is whether he has suffered any lasting brain damage when his heart stopped. 

After calling 999 his wife Nikki, instructed by call handlers at West Midlands Ambulance Service carried out CPR. Today Ian said: “it was the day after my birthday and I’d been on my own most of the weekend while the rest of the family were rehearsing for a panto and I just collapsed.

“My wife performed CPR as my daughter repeated the instructions from the ambulance service. Between them they helped keep me alive before the paramedics arrived and I could be taken to hospital.”

In the episode trauma team leader and consultant in emergency medicine Dr Julie Norton says: “The survival rates are still very poor for those who have an out of hospital cardiac arrest. So we do absolutely everything we can in the hope that this is one of those who will survive.” 

Ian spent 10 days at the Royal Stoke which included two and half days in an induced coma in the Critical Care Unit and has since been fitted with a defibrillator which will restart his heart immediately should it stop again.

He said: “They think my heart condition is genetic and now the rest of the family is being tested to see if they have it too. It was a very scary experience but I owe my life to not just the amazing support and care from the hospital but to my family too… and that costs me a bit now!”

Also in this episode Dr Norton battles to save a man who arrives bleeding so heavily that he risks losing his entire circulatory system; a patient is left with a gaping wound to his thigh after falling from a roof and another man has had a severe stroke and the blood supply to his brain is beginning to shutting down before a thrombectomy to remove the clot in his brain gives him the best chance of survival.

999 Critical Condition is on Channel 5 on Thursday 8 October at 9pm.

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