The decision to broadcast Emergency (Channel 4) across four consecutive nights leaves an uneasy feeling. Like similar shows of this type, such as 24 Hours in A&E, it follows cases of real-life trauma. We meet patients in great distress, whose relatives do not know if they will live or die, and – in some of the cases featured in this series – being told whether or not they will walk again. But to learn the outcomes for the people featured in this first episode, we must wait until Thursday night.

That lent a “cliffhanger” tone to the end of the episode, whereas I would have preferred the programme to concentrate on fewer cases but share the outcomes with us. It was all a bit frantic, switching from one patient to the next. What, for example, will become of 78-year-old Wesley? The former soldier had slipped off his chair, a seemingly minor move which had caused so much damage that, in the words of his neurosurgeon: “One wrong move and his skull could literally fall off his neck and he would be paralysed.”

There was Danilo, involved in what the paramedics termed “motorbike vs car” – he was on the motorbike. And Wayland, slashed across the abdomen outside a restaurant. The common thread in all of the cases was their split second nature – a moment earlier, and these lives were proceeding normally. But one doctor explained that nearly half of trauma patients are the elderly, mostly suffering falls. This was particularly galling for Wesley. “When I was in the Royal Marines, I used to do 700 press-ups a day. I’ve always been super-fit,” he told his doctors.

The programme highlighted London’s Major Trauma Network, instituted after the 2005 London bombings, which fast-tracks the most serious 999 calls to the hospitals that can provide the most advanced care. The work of these doctors, nurses and paramedics is impressive.

We heard one medic say in passing that a third of cases attended are stabbings. A consultant dealing with a 21-year-old stab victim answered the A&E “red phone” to be told that another 21-year-old stab victim was on their way. The director asked how many times the phone had rung that night. “Definitely more than 10, but I don’t count. It’s too sad to count,” she said.