Episode 4

An Hour To Save Your Life explores the critical decisions facing doctors in the first hour of emergency care. Against a ticking clock, each episode follows three patients from the moment the 999 call is made, minute by minute, as frontline doctors and paramedics battle to keep them alive and treat their injuries. Combining medical detail with compelling actuality, this series gives a unique insight into the most life-and-death moments in medicine.

In central London, Michael collapses at work with a suspected cardiac arrest. After being resuscitated by his colleagues, doctors and paramedics must try to work out whether a problem with his heart or a brain haemorrhage caused the collapse. After scans, he is taken to Barts Heart Centre for stent surgery to widen his narrowed arteries.

In Newcastle, young mother Gidia is rushed to hospital with multiple stab wounds to her neck and chest. Concerned that she may be bleeding internally, doctors explore the severity of the knife wounds with scans before sending her for emergency surgery to repair them.

In Durham, cyclist Ben is involved in a collision with a bus and is brought in to Newcastle's major trauma centre with major internal bleeding. Having received a blood transfusion at the scene, doctors continue to give him blood before sending him for emergency surgery to remove a shattered spleen.