000 Ambulance
March 14th, 2008 by Dan HillApologies for my second, er, challenging listen in succession, but this is a stunning, moving bit of radio. You know you’re in for a harrowing time when Arvo Pärt’s Fratres is playing during the intro …
000 is Australian for 999 or 911, and this is a documentary about calls to 000 in Melbourne. A simple enough description, but as with Don’t Hang Up, the drama suspended between two sides of a phone call can be compelling and fearful. In an emergency situation, though, this suspension is so precarious and fragile that you almost catch your breath hoping for the connection to be retained, for the static to clear, for the mobile signal to remain strong, for the other person to answer …
As the show’s synopsis notes, it’s a psychological portrait of Melbourne as well as of the astonishingly together teams that handle the calls. It’s the sound of life - chaotic, visceral, raw - and I suspect this programme will stop you in your tracks.
