24 Hours in A&E
Channel 4 Thur 30th Oct 9pm - 10pm
Repeat: Channel 4 +1 Today 10pm
Repeat: 4seven Today 11:05pm
Review by: David ButcherAfter six series, the reliably uplifting look at everyday life-saving moves to a new hospital – St George’s in Tooting, south London. Otherwise, the formula is the same, as the editing carefully unpacks human stories that have a way of making us sad, grateful and amazed, often at the same time.
“So, high-speed RTC, moped into a wall, did you say?” one of the staff repeats into the red telephone tonight, adding matter-of-factly, “Full amputation below the knee…” And so begins the story of Kerry, whose tea-time ride has ended with her right leg severed. Specialists from seven departments gather in resus to meet her while her grandfather tells us in the later interview, “She was just a good, gutsy girl,” the past tense a worry.
Light relief comes from melodramatic Tina, who has trodden on a sewing needle: “You sure I’m not going to be disabled?” she asks.
1/8. The documentary moves to St George's Hospital in south-west London, following life inside one of the world's busiest and most advanced A&E departments. The trauma team fights to save the life of a young woman involved in a motorbike accident, who has completely severed her right leg below the knee. An 11-year-old boy is brought in after suffering a prolonged epileptic seizure, and a 19-year-old arrives with a sewing needle stuck in her foot, but she seems more keen on taking advice from her mum in Bulgaria than from the doctor.
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