24 Hours in A&E

Young Ones (2x2)

Air date: May 23, 2012

A quarter of all patients treated in King's A&E are children, and this episode follows some of their stories for the first time, as well as one of A&E's youngest and newest recruits, 27-year-old emergency medicine trainee Matt. Matt's the first member of his family to go to university and pursue a career in medicine. But this shift will prove to be a challenging one for Matt and the team. The first trauma is 16-year-old riding enthusiast Ellie, who's been airlifted to King's from Kent after she was thrown from her horse and crushed against a fence. Ellie arrives with no feeling down her left side and the team's first concern is that she may have serious spinal injuries. Ellie's mum, Kate, can only wait and reflect as scans begin. Dr Matt also meets pregnant Jill who arrives with intense pain after a sudden and severe haemorrhage. She fears that she might be losing her baby, having suffered a number of miscarriages in the past. In paediatric A&E, consultant Jacqui is treating four-year-old Destiny, who has a fishbone stuck in his tonsils from his lunchtime curry. And, after a long and intense shift, the deaths of two older patients make Matt reflect on family, mortality and coping with loss.