Queen’s Medical Centre’s emergency department came to all our living rooms this evening as the first episode of 24 Hours in A&E aired on national TV. The Channel 4 programme is based at the Nottingham hospital for its 29th series - the first time it has been filmed outside of London.
Nottingham viewers will be familiar with opening shots of the Robin Hood statue and a NET tram, as well as local lingo such as ‘duck’. And others will recognise the pale walls of QMC’s A&E.
In the first episode, 'Tales of the Unexpected', which was filmed in 2021 and was aired at 9pm on Tuesday, January 3, viewers were shown an equal mix of horror, tragedy and humour. Kirsty, a 45-year-old mum, was rushed to the department after falling from an inflatable whilst on a fun run.
Read more: Meet some of the first babies born in Nottingham on New Year's Day 2023
Shots of her severely dislocated ankle, where her foot was barely hanging on, were bound to make watchers queasy. Nurse Lou Davis, who has worked in the department for 32 years, said it was possibly one of the "grimmest" injuries she had ever seen.
After initial difficulty, where anesthetising Kirsty made her wriggle her damaged ankle and smack a staff member with her arm, the ankle was put back in place and she was sent to surgery. She later returned and was somehow able to wiggle her toes.
Elsewhere 92-year-old John is admitted to resus as he struggles to breathe. His wife, Florence, is by his side as numerous tests are carried out.
Throughout the programme, she talks about the ups and downs of her long life with John, including romantic recollections of how they met and their struggles when failing to have a child. "I must say I don't feel like I'm on top of the world," says John, as his wife desperately hopes he will return home.
Sadly, after finding John has an infection and sepsis, with tests determining nothing can be done, the decision is made for John to be put on end-of-life care. Anju, who has been helping look after him, is given the heart-breaking job of telling Florence.
"It's like living outside your own body, you don't think these things are happening to you," she says as she tries to come to terms with the news. In Children's A&E, seven-year-old Hunter is admitted after falling 10 feet from a tree.
When asked to rate his pain from one to 10 with 10 being "the worst pain you could possibly imagine", he instantly answered "10". His mum, Sarah, speaks of the fun adventures she and her son go on, but also opens up on her struggles with postnatal depression after the birth of Hunter.
"It was just a downward spiral... I wouldn't wish it on anybody," she tells viewers. 24 Hours in A&E will return to screens next Tuesday (January 10).
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