The latest episode of Yorkshire Air 999, airing on Really and discovery+ this Friday 27th June at 9PM, follows the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) team as they respond to a young girl suffering a prolonged seizure at her school in Queensbury, Bradford.
Six-year-old Esme Harley, who has epilepsy and suffers from cluster seizures, a series of seizures in quick succession, had not experienced a serious episode for over a year. During a typical school day, Esme suddenly fell from a stool and began to seize. Concerned staff quickly dialled 999, worried about the risk to her brain as the seizure continued.
Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s Nostell-based Critical Care Team, comprised of Paramedic Tom Chatwyn and Dr David Driver, were immediately dispatched. They arrived on scene within eight minutes, landing in a safe area behind the school to avoid distressing other pupils on the playground. The team were escorted to Esme’s side, where she was being supported by a rapid response paramedic and her mum, Sophie.
Upon arrival, Esme was still actively seizing, unconscious and experiencing violent muscle contractions consistent with a tonic-clonic seizure. Paramedic Tom explained, “When a patient is having a seizure, they’re not oxygenating themselves properly. They’re not taking much air in, and there’s a risk that prolonged seizures could cause brain damage. The quicker we can stop it, the better the outcome.”
With time critical, the team attempted to administer diazepam, a medication that helps suppress seizures. But Esme’s small veins, combined with the physical effects of her seizure, made intravenous access extremely difficult.
Dr Dave commented, “Children’s veins are really small and incredibly tricky to access in situations like this. You’ve also got a distressed parent, a busy environment and a child who’s actively fitting, it can be technically very challenging.”
To avoid wasting time trying to insert a cannula at the scene, the crew quickly moved Esme into the back of a land ambulance and began the journey to hospital. While en route, Dr Dave and paramedic Tom made the decision to administer the medication via intraosseous access, by drilling directly into Esme’s bone to deliver life-saving medication into her bloodstream.
Speaking of the procedure, paramedic Tom said, “When you can’t get access to a vein, we use a technique called intraosseous access. It involves drilling a needle into the bone, which contains blood vessels that link back to the circulatory system. It works really well in cases like this. It looks worse than it is, and while it sounds dramatic, it’s not as painful as people might imagine.”
Once the medication was safely administered, Esme was transferred by land ambulance to Bradford Royal Infirmary, where she stayed overnight for monitoring by the paediatric team. Incredibly, just three days later, she was back at school.
Speaking about the ordeal, Esme’s mum Sophie said: “When you get that phone call from school it’s terrifying. Your heart goes in your mouth. I remember thinking, ‘Oh no, not another one.’ When she very first started with epilepsy in 2021, I was a nervous wreck. She went all floppy, her eyes rolled, and her lips turned blue. That day changed me forever.
On this occasion, when we got to the hospital, she came alive again, she even started singing! I told her to keep her voice down for the poorly children, but secretly I was so relieved to see her feeling better. When we got home, she had loads of get-well cards and drawings from her classmates, which really meant a lot to us. She’s so brave, and I’m so proud of her.”
Alongside Esme’s story, the episode also features a motocross accident in Kirkdale Woods, a man who suffered a seizure on a canal boat during a narrowboat holiday in Silsden, and a mountain biker who punctured a lung, broke several ribs and his collarbone after hitting a ditch and falling.