Rescue 999: Seconds To Save A Life
14 August 2024
Channel 5 and My5 viewers will get a unique viewpoint of dramatic real-life rescues as an exciting new series immerses audiences in the life-saving work of two of the region’s air ambulance charities, as well as other UK rescue teams covering sea, mountains and land.
East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) and Magpas Air Ambulance will feature in the new six-part programme made by BBC Studios Factual Entertainment, Rescue 999: Seconds To Save A Life, coming to screens this August and September. EAAA will feature in episodes due for broadcast on 13 and 20 September.
Body-cam footage will take viewers behind the scenes and to the heart of the action of the two life-saving charities, enabling them to join the air ambulance doctors, critical care paramedics and pilots as they attend real-life emergencies in the East of England—as well as seeing how other rescue services work across the UK.
From road traffic collisions to cardiac arrests, medical emergencies to accidental injuries, the air ambulance teams bring advanced skills, equipment and medicine directly to the scene of their patients’ incidents in the fastest time possible.
Filming took place between May-August 2023 and the series, which comprises 6 x 60’ episodes, will begin at 8pm on Channel 5 and My5 on Friday, 16th August. Each episode features emotionally charged, real-life emergencies from all over the UK, unpicking the series of events leading to rescuing people in the most perilous of situations. Both the rescuers and casualties re-tell the story from both sides of the drama as viewers follow an unfolding narrative of the rescue from start to finish.
Dr Victor Inyang, East Anglian Air Ambulance Medical Director, says: “We were pleased to be a part of ‘Rescue 999: Seconds To Save A Life,’ which shows just some of the incidents we are tasked to across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Our work is only possible thanks to our incredible supporters. We’re proud and humbled by their life-saving impact, some of which will be seen in ‘Rescue 999: Seconds To Save A Life’.
“We were pleased to be a part of ‘Rescue 999: Seconds To Save A Life,’ which shows just some of the incidents we are tasked to across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Our work is only possible thanks to our incredible supporters. We’re proud and humbled by their life-saving impact, some of which will be seen in the programme.”
Natalie Church, Magpas Air Ambulance Director of Operations says, “Every day the Magpas Air Ambulance team provides medicine on the edge of life and death, and ‘Rescue 999: Seconds To Save A Life’ delves into the extreme highs, lows and everything in between that our team, our patients and their families experience during an incident.
“As a charity funded by donations, we are pleased to have the opportunity to showcase the work our advanced medical team carry out 24/7, caring for a population of 10 million—which is only possible thanks to the kindness of our supporters.”
EAAA and Magpas Air Ambulance are local charities which receive no regular government funding, relying on generous public support to give people the best chance of surviving and recovering from a medical emergency in East Anglia and beyond.