Georgie Parker stars as Terri Sullivan, the Nursing Unit Manager at All Saints Western General Hospital. She manages the general medical ward, affectionately known as the "Garbage Ward" because it takes the overflow of patients from all the other wards.

Terri cares for a terminal cancer patient and reminds the elderly woman she can refuse treatment but her doctor, Harry Williams, has no intention of withdrawing treatment and accuses Terri of advocating euthanasia. The nursing staff clash with an incompetent medical intern who walks off the ward in the middle of a procedure. Connor thinks a patient is going through alcoholic withdrawal, Von gives Jared lessons on nursing, and Ward 17 plays host to a nervous bikie's wedding.

Jared is worried when a new mother rejects her child and when the baby goes missing, the teenage mother becomes the prime suspect. Seeing her possible future self, Von offers encouragement to a retired nurse who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. A woman recalls the situation causing her blindness.

A young woman is in hospital with a serious bacterial infection six weeks after the birth of her first child. She goes into cardiac arrest has a near death experience. Jaz helps three elderly ladies feel worthwhile and Von brings out the devil in an otherwise shy, gentleman patient.

Emotions on a personal level are running high when Peter shocks his friends by revealing he has resigned from All Saints, leaving Terri feeling lost and alone. Bron finds it hard to stick to ambulance procedures when a young security guard that has been shot during an armed robbery at Cougars is a friend. A young bashing victim tells Steph a secret, leaving her to decide whether to tell the police or not. Samantha finally meets Jared's mother but her hopes for making a good first impression are quickly dashed. Meanwhile, a new temporary ward clerk irritates the staff.

Sister Bernard again questions Terri about her commitment to All Saints and apparent lack of commitment to the Order's community house. Terri is outraged to learn that Bernard has already taken the liberty of discussing the situation with the Superior General. To Bernard's way of thinking, Terri needs to make a decision about what really is the priority in her life.

When Connor learns that his brother Greg has been admitted to All Saints, he is reticent about making contact. The pair has not seen each other for over a year and their relationship is far from rosy. Connor swallows his pride and arranges for his brother to come to Ward 17, hoping that this could be his chance to build bridges with his estranged sibling. But Greg's antagonistic behaviour is not making things easy for either of them.

A newlywed couple begins to think they are never going to make the cruise they have booked for their honeymoon. The groom has been brought into All Saints on his wedding night following an asthma attack at the reception. Just when it looks like he is about to be discharged, he suffers another attack and Mitch has no option but to keep him under further observation. Then, when the evacuation happens, it really looks as if they will miss the boat.

An unidentified male patient who attempted suicide is sent up from Emergency. He is believed to have taken a non-lethal dose of a sleeping pill. What starts out to be a straightforward babysitting job turns nasty when the patient suddenly arrests and dies. Von and Steph are in the process of laying out his body when the pathology lab puts through an urgent call to Mitch. The blood tests indicate the patient has swallowed a highly reactive agricultural chemical which has reacted with the fluid in his stomach. The dead man's body is consequently leaching toxic fumes. As a result, Ward 17 needs to be evacuated.

A disaster plan is put into action. When all the patients are removed from the ward, the staff themselves are shepherded outside and ordered to take blood from and examine each other. All are told to be on the lookout for possible side effects of exposure. Realising they are dealing very much with an unknown quantity, Steph worries that her fertility may be affected.

Bron is disillusioned about her career in the ambulance service. She is frustrated that she is unable to use a lot of the skills she acquired during her years of nursing. But while she and Ben are transporting a patient from Ward 17 to St Angela's, both her nursing and ambulance skills are required to help treat a fitting patient. This experience renews her commitment to the ambulance service and she decides to study for her Level 2 exams.

Bron and Ben rescue Patti Burke from a snap freezer. The woman had gone in to save her friend Jill, who appears to have wanted to commit suicide, and in so doing Patti ended up bound to her friend's hand. Unable to separate Patti from her dead friend, Ben and Bron have to wait until the shelf to which Jill is attached, is cut away. Then, Patti (still attached to the corpse) is able to be taken to All Saints. It is up to Luke, with Kylie now as his observer, to separate the two women surgically. But the scars left on Patti are not just physical. Emotionally, she carries a guilt, which goes deeper than mere survivor's guilt. Once she admits to Jared she and Jill were lovers, we sense she will be able to heal.