The Weekend Shift

Season 1Episode 360 minOct 11, 2016
The Weekend Shift

Tonight the London Ambulance Service braces itself for a demanding weekend shift. As Londoners head out to play, the Ambulance Service often has to pick up the pieces and prepare for a torrent of cases, all with their own unique challenges.

In Brixton, Advanced Paramedic Rich helps a man who's out of control and lashing out in a nightclub after taking a drugs overdose. The control centre is under pressure as five babies are being delivered by the call handlers over the phone tonight.

By Saturday night the streets of London are a huge challenge for the service: as the pubs begin to close, the violence escalates. The ambulance dispatchers are forced to make tough calls about who gets an ambulance quickest and who will have to endure a long wait - when a call about a stabbing comes in they have make the difficult decision to divert a crew from a six year-old who has fallen from a bunk bed. A couple of hours later, the same crew attend their second stabbing of the evening; it's the seventh across London that night.

Stabbings fuelled by drugs or alcohol are becoming an increasing feature for the weekend shift, but sometimes the most urgent calls are more straightforward than the social care ones; a man who has left hospital without being discharged needs returning to have his cannula removed. Homeless and wanting a sandwich, the crew debate whether it's their job to offer him the support he wants. They know there are always other pressing emergencies they could be attending.

Later the control centre has the tough job of telling a frequent caller who desperately wants to go to hospital that they won't be taking him as he's not sick enough to get emergency care, even though he does need support. As many care services in the capital aren't available all hours, the ambulance service end up being asked to pick up the pieces.

When at the end of the weekend a call about a miscarriage comes in, it's the type of emergency that the ambulance staff are trained for, but all the preparation in the world can't always shield them from the emotional toll sharing a personal tragedy can have.

The Weekend Shift has aired on Oct 11, 2016 at 9:00 PM
Previous EpisodeNext Episode

Trailer

We do not have any trailers for this episode

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
General Hospital
Running

General Hospital

General Hospital, which celebrated its golden anniversary on April 1, 2013, continues its tradition of passion, intrigue and adventure that takes place in the fictional town of Port Charles in upstate New York. The glamour and excitement of those who have come to find their destinies in this familiar seaport town intertwine with the lives, loves and fortunes of beloved, well-known faces. As always, love, danger and mind blowing plot twists continue to abound on General Hospital with contemporary storylines and unforgettable characters.

The Curse of Oak Island
Running

The Curse of Oak Island

The Curse of Oak Island documents brothers Rick and Marty Lagina as they pursue their lifelong dream of solving more than a 220-year old Oak Island mystery. For over two centuries, teams of searchers, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, have attempted to crack the code that will unearth the treasure believed to be buried on the small island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Armed with the knowledge of those that came before them, the muscle of heavy machinery and decades of engineering know-how, the Lagina's and their partners may be closer than anyone in history to finding the treasure that has so far claimed the lives of six men.

Bad Monkey
Running

Bad Monkey

Bad Monkey tells the story of Andrew Yancy, a one-time detective demoted to restaurant inspector in Southern Florida. A severed arm found by a tourist out fishing pulls Yancy into the world of greed and corruption that decimates the land and environment in both Florida and the Bahamas. And yes, there's a monkey.

Brilliant Minds
Running

Brilliant Minds

Inspired by the extraordinary life and work of world-famous author and physician Oliver Sacks, Brilliant Minds follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier - the human mind - while grappling with their own relationships and mental health.

Black Mirror
Running

Black Mirror

Over the last ten years, technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives before we've had time to stop and question it. In every home; on every desk; in every palm - a plasma screen; a monitor; a smartphone--a black mirror of our 21st Century existence. Black Mirror is a contemporary British re-working of The Twilight Zone with stories that tap into the collective unease about our modern world.