Look behind the scenes with new TV series all about WMAS

TELEVISION viewers can witness the biggest challenge the ambulance service has ever faced.

A three-part series, on Mondays at 9pm, started this week showing calls to 999 and 111 quadrupling overnight, and how the ambulance service coped to protect patients and save lives.

Paramedics: Britain’s Lifesavers captures the extraordinary lengths that West Midlands Ambulance Service, which covers the Staffordshire Moorlands, went to, to ensure it was able to deal with the single biggest challenge it has ever faced; the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cameras captured the daily decisions being made to make sure ambulances could continue to provide urgent medical care.

During the height of the pandemic calls to the 999 and 111 service run by West Midlands Ambulance Service increased by 400 per cent. To ease the pressure, students and volunteers stepped up to join those on the frontline and give something back to the NHS.

The programmes look at many different areas of the Trust and tell the stories of some of the staff as they deal with the enormity of the situation faced by the entire Trust.

From new call assessors and student paramedics, to staff returning to work after the call for additional support; the command teams, education and training, they are all featured in the programmes.

Trust chief executive, Anthony Marsh, said: “Allowing Channel 4 access to WMAS enables us to show the extraordinary lengths that staff in every part of our organisation went to, to meet the challenge of coronavirus head on. I am immensely proud of the work my staff did and continue to do, every single day.

“The series shows first-hand how amazing they all are and the efforts they went to, to keep patients safe and save lives despite some of the most difficult conditions we have ever faced.

“I am proud of the way every person in the Trust played a vital role in our response and how those efforts saved lives every single day.”

Series editor Pete Wallistayler said: “We would like to thank all of the incredible staff who were filmed and those who have kindly allowed us to tell their stories.

“This series gives those at home the chance to understand more about the excellent work that went on behind the scenes to respond to the global pandemic.”