Recruits: Paramedics

Graduation day and 50 trainee paramedics celebrate making it through 8 tough weeks of theory assessment at College. They've earned the right to hit the road. 24 year old Jenna gave up her job as a vet's assistant to become a paramedic. An hour into her first shift Jenna, and mentor Cleone, rush to the aid of an elderly man in cardiac arrest. At college she practised CPR on dummies... but now for the first time a human life rests in her hands. Starting his new career is former tyre fitter, John Williams. Under the mentorship of Jordan, John heads out on his first emergency call... a 26 year old girl is critically ill with fever.

A week out of college and the trainee paramedics work their first night shifts in the city. For country boy Dan it's a baptism of fire. On a rainy night, on one of Sydney's busiest roads, he'll attend his first hit and run. Several blocks away, John and mentor Jordan face a confronting scene. A man experiencing a psychotic attack believes he has swallowed a snake. Jenna and Cleone arrive at a street party turned alcohol fuelled brawl, a reveller's been glassed in the face. But there's a hitch, he's refusing to leave the party.

In Sydney's city, John has been working his dream job for just two weeks and already he's experienced plenty. Tonight is another first 67 year old Dermott became drowsy at the wheel and has collided with a power pole. Mentor Jordan has witnessed hundreds of car crashes in his caree, but at his first, trainee John has little idea what to expect. Out in suburbia Jenna and Cleone make a grim discovery. A man hasn't seen his neighbour for 12 days and as the team arrive, their worst fears are confirmed.

Jordan believes John's now ready to step up and take the role of primary treating officer. OC spray has been used by police to break up a brawl outside a nightclub but an innocent bystander has been hit by the spray. She is in agony but John can only wash the pain away if he can get her to open her eyes. Out on the road trainee paramedic Carleigh Dunn is following her life plan. She's graduated top of the class from college but tonight it's detective work that's needed to solve the mystery of a woman found bleeding and unconscious in a local park. As part of her training Rebecca was taught that defusing tension is a crucial skill. She's already had one bad experience with an aggressive patient and now she's in the midst of her second.

21 year old Blake soon discovers childbirth is well out of his comfort zone. No matter how confronting, chances are each of these trainees will deliver a baby sometime during their careers. And for Jenna out on the road, that moment may well have arrived. She's called out to a suburban home, a first time mum has gone into labour. A high alert drug overdose propels John and Jordan into King Cross. It's a brutal lesson in the unpredictable effects of illicit drugs. Meanwhile, Carleigh faces a life and death situation. A man has collapsed during the family's Sunday dinner. With a history of heart problems, and now vomiting and sweating, he could be in serious trouble.

City boy Evan starts his first shift in Richmond on the rural fringes of Sydney. He's worked in IT for the last 8 years but it's out on the road that he's finding job satisfaction. On a nearby highway, a car is wrapped around an electricity pole. The driver, Guy, is stable but extracting him from the wreck brings its own risks. It's almost midnight when Jenna and Cleone are called to a suspected epileptic seizure. As the patient swings in and out of consciousness it proves a tricky case to solve. After mid-term exams the students are about to get their first taste as front line paramedics. They're about to spend 3 days observing on the road. The first job Reynir will attend as a student paramedic is one that even seasoned paramedics find confronting. A young man has tried to hang himself.

A large number of ambulance call outs are to motor vehicle accidents. So for a trainee paramedic, learning how to extract an injured passenger out of a wreck is critical. In Richmond, former IT programmer Evan heads towards his first car crash at a notorious rural black spot. 65 km's down the road in Sydney's Kings Cross jungle the results of a drunken brawl put Rebecca, a mother of three, to the test. It's the first time she's been to the red light district and already she has blood on her hands - literally. However, for rookie John his day is an eye opener for different reasons. The frailty and loneliness of old age hits home as he sees a side of life he's never experienced before. At Paramedic College Danielle and Reynir are feeling the pressure of their new career. They're learning how to get injured drivers out of car wrecks. Get it wrong and their patient could end up a paraplegic.

A man collapses in a doctor's office from cardiac arrest. Minutes later a team of paramedics, including trainee paramedic Evan, are at the scene trying to get the man's heart to beat. If Evan is to qualify as a fully-fledged paramedic, he must perform in these life and death situations. Out in Sydney's west, it's Christmas Eve. It's Jenna's first experience of working alongside Santa. A street party turns ugly when a man is glassed and Jenna and mentor Cleone arrive to pick up the pieces.

Trainee Rebecca and her mentor Chris are closest to the scene when a call comes in to assist a 9 year-old girl with breathing difficulties. It's an emotionally charged scene as the girl's family are incredibly distraught. Bec needs to keep her cool and hope that her training and motherly instincts see her through. On Sydney's outskirts 82 year old Bob has rolled his car several times. It's up to Evan, in the role of treating paramedic for the first time, to treat his serious injuries. It's a big responsibility and puts the young rookie to the test. And unusual scene John Williams the trainee, meets John Williams the patient. Will the real John Williams please stand up?

At Paramedic College a class of new recruits are nearing their final assessments but before they can begin their on-road training there's one more hurdle to jump. The tough 'major trauma' assessment. They'll be treating a simulated patient with multiple undiagnosed injuries. If Reynir and Blake fail this test, they could be out of a job. Jenna's been out of college for eight weeks with mentor Cleone. Today she's called to her first pedestrian collision. Compassion is perhaps the biggest pre-requisite to becoming a Paramedic and after two months as a trainee, Rebecca's had plenty of time to reflect on this very human quality. When her father was dying of cancer, it was the compassion shown to him by a nurse that made Rebecca change careers and become a Paramedic. Now the mother of three is called to a job close to her heart when a 67 year-old cancer patient is in great pain.

Trainee Paramedics must pass eight weeks of intensive theory before they're allowed to start a 3-year mentorship on the road. For Blake, passing his final assessment is the only thing that stands between him and his dream job. But a crucial error threatens to derail the promise of a new career. Having passed his final test Reynir finds himself on the road with six-year paramedic, Mel. It's a Saturday night, the full moon is out and a drug overdose is Reynir's first official job as a paramedic. It's an unpredictable and potentially explosive situation for the fresh-faced recruit. For rookie paramedics, dealing with situations on the street is very different to the classroom environment. Despite the best training possible, nothing can prepare them for the unforeseeable circumstances that confront them on a daily basis. As for young Blake, he manages to scrape through his final test at College but his real test now awaits him - Life on the road as a paramedic.

It's a day of firsts for Blake who has just left Paramedic College and is now stationed in Coffs Harbour, NSW. His shift begins when a 13 year-old girl, worried about her mum, rings triple zero for an ambulance. The patient is suffering from severe respiratory distress complicated with a rare case of Swine Flu. It's a precarious situation and one that puts young Blake to the test. Saturday nights in Sydney are never quiet for a Paramedic. Trainee Rebecca and her mentor Chris are called to the aid of a young girl who is left collapsed and vulnerable on the side of a busy road. Her story rings alarm bells of a spiked drink. As more and more people drive into the city to paint the town red, probationer John is called to a five-car pile up on a major highway. His thoughts drift back to his first motor vehicle accident when he wasn't so sure on his feet.

Reynir has just finished eight weeks at Paramedic College and has just begun three years of on - road training. It's his second day with new mentor, veteran paramedic Mel and within minutes of starting his shift, Reynir is thrown into the deepest end possible. In Sydney's Central Railway station a businessman is about to make a huge impact on the young trainee. As the man walks to a train, security cameras capture him collapsing to the ground - he's had a heart attack. Minutes later a team of paramedics, including Reynir, rush to treat the man. It's Reynir's first cardiac arrest and the first time he has used a defibrillator in a real life situation. Only 3 percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside hospital survive. If the man does pull through he'll be one of the lucky few. At the end of three months on-road training, it's time for Jenna, Evan, Rebecca and John to say goodbye to their first mentor. They've all faced and surmounted many challenges and over the next three years many more will follow. But for now it's thank you's and fond farewells for those mentors that got them through the first moments of paramedic life.