West Midlands

Every day presents a different challenge for the motorcycle paramedics who look after Birmingham city centre.

They never quite know what to expect.

On one side of Birmingham... Barry Rudge, call sign Flipper, is responding to a 999 call in Small Heath to a road accident where a car has collided with a bus.

Meanwhile in another part of the city, Steve Harris – call sign Forrest – is rushing through the city centre to help a man who has fallen on his face and can't stop bleeding.

The third paramedic Mark Hayes – call sign Flymo – has been called to help an elderly lady who is coughing up blood… and whose daughter is worried that it could be serious.

It's just another ordinary day for the Motorcycle Paramedics in Birmingham.

Life and death situations

Getting a paramedic to the scene of an emergency quickly can be the difference between life and death.

There’s nothing faster than a motorcycle paramedic who can reach the incident in half the time that an ambulance would take to get there.

Dealing with daily incidents...

But that speed comes at a price.

All paramedics have eight minutes to get to the most serious emergencies and during that time the riders have no chance to think about the emergency ahead.

Travelling through traffic at speed can be extremely dangerous - especially when other drivers aren’t paying attention.

Mark Hayes knows what happens when things go wrong.

"Unfortunately within the first 12 months of joining the bike unit I was involved in three road traffic collisions where I was knocked off my bike.

"It happens and you just have to do the best that you can and plan for every eventuality - and hope it doesn’t hurt."

Hazards and abuse

Dealing with difficult road conditions and bad drivers is not the only hazard that paramedics are up against.

Suzanne Virdee meets the paramedics.

Once they arrive on scene they are often met with patients who verbally or physically abuse them and that's difficult to deal with when they are on their own.

They sometimes have to call the police to protect them as they work alone.

Steve Harris says it's an aspect of the job you have to learn to deal with.

"Verbal abuse is very regular and can happen daily or even two or three times a day depending on the type of job. The verbal abuse then sometimes leads to violence."

During one incident that BBC Inside Out attended, Steve Harris found a drunk couple who became verbally abusive on his arrival.

Three ambulances, two police cars and a motorcycle paramedic were called to this incident – but it’s by no means the best example of wasting the emergency services' time.

Pranks and pressures

Every year, West Midlands Ambulance Service gets more and more calls from people, who should never have dialled 999 in the first place.

Barry Rudge says, "Just recently some of the calls coming through have been pretty silly i.e. can you make me a cup of tea or I'm hungry get me a sandwich or go fetch me a pizza?".

In 2008, West Midlands’ ambulance service took an average of 2,300 calls every single day making the West Midlands one of the busiest patches in the country.

But 2009 has seen a huge increase in the number of calls which has put the boys on the bikes under more pressure.

Chief Operating Officer Rob Ashford explains the pressures faced by the team:

"If you look at the last six to eight weeks, we've had some days where we've seen increases in Birmingham of up to 53%."

Even under these circumstances West Midlands Ambulance service has an excellent record on emergency response times.

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES...

We find out how the Motorbike Paramedics cope with one of the most difficult and dangerous job in the service in this web Q & A.

Paramedic 'Forrest Grump'.

STEVE HARRIS

Q: What's your nickname and how did you get it?

A: Forrest Grump. I tend to be a bit serious sometimes and this can be taken as I am not always happy - hence grumpy. This is of course totally untrue.

Q: Age

A: 57

Q: From?

A: Smethwick.

Q: When did you join the West Midlands Ambulance Service?

A: May 1978.

Q: What has your career involved so far?

A: Worked at Smethwick & Oldbury Ambulance Stations as a Technician on an ambulance, became a paramedic in 1994, joined Motorcycle Unit in 1996.

Became Clinical Supervisor for Motorcycles and was then promoted to Clinical Support Officer at Henrietta St Ambulance Station in 2003. This meant that I left the Motorcycle Unit.

In 2005, due to reorganisation within the service, I relinquished my rank and took the opportunity to train as a First Contact Practitioner and return to the Motorcycle Unit and this is where I hope to remain for the rest of my career.

Q: What does your job entail?

A: I am a First Responder, I am tasked with attending 999 calls as quickly as possible in order to assess, treat and stabilise patients while an ambulance is responding. I can act as Paramedic backup to ambulance crews.

Q: What do you like the most about being a motorcycle paramedic?

A: I enjoy my job as a Paramedic, I enjoy being able to help people, having to think quickly and take control of situations, but to be able to combine that job with my love of riding a motorcycle is fantastic. It is the best job in the Ambulance Service.

Q: What's the most memorable incident that you have attended?

A: Any incident where I can look back and know that I have made a difference to someone's life is memorable. Every successful resuscitation, every time a patients condition is stabilised or improved is memorable.

One pleasant highlight was delivering twin girls to a mother in Bearwood.

Q: What's your favourite place in the Midlands?

A: Any golf course.

Q: Who's your favourite person?

A: My partner.

Q: What's your favourite hobby?

A: Land Rovers - 4x4 offroading.

Q: Your favourite drink?

A: Single Malt Whisky.

Q: Give us a fascinating fact about yourself.

A: I have had a beard for 30 years. When I joined the Ambulance Service, I was clean shaven but after a couple of months when I would get up at 5 am and have to shave before going to work for 6 am. I decided that enough was enough and I then grew my beard.

Paramedic 'Flipper'.

BARRY RUDGE

Q: What's your name and nickname?

A: Barry Rudge - Flipper.

Q: Describe why you have the nickname?

A: I took a fully dressed paramedic motorcycle for a swim in a river during my training course and fell off, my instructor told me - I don't need legs, I need flippers - and it has stuck ever since.

Q: Age

A: 49.

Q: From?

A: Worcester.

Q: When did you join the West Midlands Ambulance Service?

A: 1983.

Q: What has your career involved so far?

A: I started as a qualified ambulance man and trained as paramedic in 1988, and then joined the motorcycle unit in 1998.

Q: What does your job entail?

A: First response and fast response on a motorcycle for Category A life threatening calls, on the whole, in Birmingham city centre. We also back up technician crews as paramedic support.

Q: What do you like the most about being a motorcycle paramedic?

A: I enjoy being able to work on my own and ride a motorcycle all day! And get paid for it. I enjoy the complex calls we attend and the challenge they present every day.

Q: Most memorable incident that you have attended?

A: Getting an injured man with multiple spinal fractures off the top of a construction site 10 stories up, using a spinal board and a crane with a safety basket. I had to go in the basket with the patient and had to be lifted out over the edge of the building and down the outside of the building to the waiting ambulance.

Q: What's your favourite place in the Midlands?

A: Stratford.

Q: Who's your favourite person?

A: My wife, oh... and Valentino Rossi.

Q: What's your favourite hobby?

A: Motorcycle racing.

Q: Your favourite drink?

A: Coffee!

Q: Favourite song?

A: 'Highway to the Danger Zone' from 'Top Gun'.

Q: Favourite film?

A: 'Top Gun'.

Q: Give us a fascinating fact about yourself.

A: I am probably the oldest Honda Motorcycle CB500 Club champion at 48-years-old and after only three years of racing.

On call - paramedic Flymo.

MARK HAYES

Q: What's your name + nickname?

A: Mark Hayes – nickname Flymo.

Q: How did you get the nickname?

A: Whilst on the bike training course I went a little too fast into a bend and my nearside panier trimmed the grass embankment. The riders following couldn’t see me for grass and leaves but I managed to stay on the bike!

Q: Age?

A: 37

Q: From?

A: Birmingham

Q: When did you join the West Midlands Ambulance Service?

A: 1995

Q: What has your career involved so far?

A: Six years on an Ambulance at West Bromwich Station, three months secondment on a Rapid Response Car, and the last seven years on the Motorcycle Unit.

Q: What does your job entail?

A: Rapid Response to 999 calls sometimes accessing parts of the city where no other motor vehicle can go, as usually first on the scene, having to assess the situation taking relevant action to call other emergency services if required, and early patient treatment which sometimes can be the difference between life and death.

Race against time - an incident.

Q: What do you like the most about being a motorcycle paramedic?

A: As a keen motorcyclist this job combines both passions of mine, riding and helping others. I love getting to the calls quickly, sometimes having to think on my feet and take control of various situations until further help arrives.

Q: What's the most memorable incident that you've attended?

A: A serious stabbing in the city centre where a male had been repeatedly stabbed, one stab wound was in his neck, severing an artery. We battled to stem the bleeding and in the end the only way was to plug the hole with my finger. Thankfully this man survived a near death injury.

Q: What's your favourite place in the Midlands?

A: Birmingham city centre at Christmas time, with the German Market, Christmas Lights and the buzzing atmosphere.

Q: Who's your favourite person?

A: My Mother-In-Law, because she always sides with me against my wife.

Q: What's your favourite hobby?

A: Spending money on the latest gadgets.

Q: Your favourite drink?

A: Coffee,

Q: Favourite song?

A: 'Closest Thing To Crazy' by Katie Melua

Q: Give us a fascinating fact about yourself:

A: I once won a prize for my superb impression (not) of Steve Irwin at Australia Zoo, in front of a live audience (much scarier than the high speeds I ride at!!).