大象传媒

The night shift is in full swing as we join the team in control responding to reports of a man walking on the railway tracks. Advanced paramedic Ian is immediately dispatched to the scene, where he finds the patient on the platform having been clipped by a train. Although his physical injuries are of most immediate concern, after spending more time with the patient it becomes clear to Ian that it is his underlying mental health that has put him in the way of danger.

Alongside the ambulances on the day shift is a mental health triage car, staffed by paramedic Linda and a specialist mental health nurse, Emma. Their work in the community aims to reduce the number of mental health hospital admissions. Their first call of the morning is a patient struggling with depression and bipolar disorder.

Temperatures have plummet to below zero, and crewmates Chris and Rob are dispatched to a patient who has fallen on the ice. As snow falls across the city, Chris and Rob's next call is for a patient who has been found outside in the cold. When they arrive, they recognize the patient, but they can see his health has declined since they last came across him. Because he has been outside in freezing temperatures for the entire night, they need to get him urgent help.

In the mental health triage car, Linda and Emma are sent to a patient struggling from paranoia. Spending time with him, they soon realise that he is another for whom the isolation resulting from lockdown is exacerbating his illness.

The following day, Linda and Emma are dispatched to help Chris and Rob treat a 24-year-old patient who is feeling suicidal. Later, a call from the police takes priority for Linda and Emma. A male asylum seeker appears to be struggling with mental health difficulties resulting from isolation. When the crew arrive, it becomes clear that the patient's family are struggling with more practical issues: they have no clothes and food. Linda and Emma make it their mission to help and share the story with ambulance control, who are so touched that they arrange a special clothes collection to help the family and other asylum seekers struggling with the system.