A teenager is dragged from a bus and gunned down in the main street in front of bystanders.
South Wales paramedic Angie Dymott can do nothing for him. The executed 17-year-old is dead.
The 45-year-old mother has been dropped in one of the most dangerous parts of the most dangerous cities in the world, Guatemala City in Central America, to work alongside its paramedics.
The inter-gang shooting will be one of many she has to deal with as she rides the ambulances with the local bomberos, who have to man both ambulances and fire engines.
It’s a far cry from Angie’s normal patch around Cardiff, where she works as a paramedic for the Wales Ambulance Trust, but she feels strangely safe going out on calls because the ambulance crews are not attacked – they are well respected by local people.
Her two weeks in Guatemala City – “the best experience of my life” – was the result of being selected from more than 400 paramedics in the UK who applied to appear on BBC2’s new series, “The Toughest Place To Be” which will be aired on Sunday, February 13.
In another two programmes, a bus driver will be challenged to work as a driver in the Philippines and a midwife in Africa.
Angie, from Gwaelod-y-Garth, Cardiff, who has been with the ambulance service since she was 34, has been a paramedic since 2005 and is a member of the British Paramedics Association. She received an e-mail from them that the BBC was looking for applicants for their new series and despite the dangers they were inundated.
After she was selected from a series of interviews, Angie was filmed doing a couple of shifts around Cardiff before she flew with a small crew last November to Guatemala City and installed in its “red zone.”
“They told me not to look up too much about Guatemala before I went. It appealed to me from the very beginning, it sounded great but I never thought I would be chosen,” she said.
Partner Rob was naturally concerned but very supportive. He is the main carer for their five-year-old autistic son Christopher.
“I knew it was a poor country and the gang culture there is rife as it is in many central and south American countries, I was excited but very nervous,” said Angie, who had done a lot of travelling before she settled down and decided to pursue her “dream” job with the ambulance service.
“I don’t speak Spanish so it was quite difficult at times. I was teamed up with two Bomberos, one who spoke very good English and another who spoke no English at all, but there was always someone around to translate.”
Because of the violence in the city – there are 15-20 people a week shot – Angie had to wear a bullet-proof vest at the insistence of the BBC and insurance requirements, but local paramedics feel no such need since they are not attacked. There was also a bodyguard on hand.
“I was right in the centre of the red zone which is the most dangerous part of Guatemala City. The ambulances are poorly equipped by our standards and a lot of the equipment is very basic and well-used, some of it washed down and re-used.
“I did a mix of day and night shifts and although most of the shootings are at night there were quite a few shootings in the day. We also attended road accidents and had to deal with medical emergencies.
“Dealing with traumas the language was not a problem but it was more difficult with medicals. At the time I didn’t really feel under threat, it was afterwards when the BBC invited me to see the edited film I thought ‘Oh my God! Did I do that!’ I imagine when my mother sees it she will be glad she didn’t know in advance what I was doing.”
Local full-time paramedics work 24 hours on and 24 hours off with volunteers helping out to let them sleep. Volunteers tend to be wealthier since they have other jobs, but full-timers get paid a paltry £250 a month.
Angie stayed with a volunteer at his home in a lovely part of the city, looked over by armed guards and behind locked gates. But she also stayed with a full-time paramedic who lived in one of the most violent villages where local villagers organise vigilante patrols every night. He lived in two rooms with his wife and children and mother, but gave up a whole room for Angie to stay.
“I felt very privileged and proud to work alongside these people. They gave me a very different attitude towards my work after seeing how professional and enthusiastic they are, despite what they have to deal with.
“There is a great camaraderie between them, they cook and eat together, they are really a lovely team. They are also very well educated and trained. They may not have all the latest equipment but they have been well trained to North American standards.”
Since her return, Angie has kept in touch with many of the paramedics she met by email and Facebook and intends to do some fund-raising to send them equipment.
