Marvellous Valves Operation Ouch!

-He's Dr Chris.

-He's Dr Xand.

-Yes, he's still got his beard.

-And we're still identical twins.

Your body's amazing and we're going to show you why.

SHE BLOWS RASPBERRY

We're head-to-head in Operation Takeover.

-BOTH:

-Man overboard!

-SIREN BLARES

Ouch & About hits the wards.

What kind of ambulance did you get?

I didn't get an ambulance. I got a helicopter.

First Aid is back.

So, we do need to get Xand to hospital.

Meet our new brilliant Ouch patients.

-Hello!

-SHE LAUGHS

And our lab experiments will... HE SCREAMS

..blow...your...mind!

-That is an amazing view.

-Are you ready to join us?

Whoo!

I can't see a thing.

-BOTH:

-Coming up today on "Operation Ouch!"...

-Oh!

-We're in stitches.

Oh, oh, oh.

We're feeling queasy.

You can vomit on Dr Xand.

And we're head over heels.

-Take a look at this.

-Ah!

But first...

Let's head to the emergency department,

where our first patient has been giving the team some lip.

Xand, the patient has a sore lip.

He's been perfectly nice to the team.

-Oh.

-Now, let's meet him.

Over in Alder Hey, ten-year-old Mohammed

is waiting in accident and emergency with his dad.

What's happened, fella?

I've been accidentally pushed and hurt my lip.

Yikes! Let's find out more.

Mohammed was playing a game with his friends in the school playground.

Oh. Were they playing a game of hide-and-seek?

-Found you!

-Erm, not quite, Xand.

Were they pinning the tail on the donkey? Ee-yore!

Your imagination is running wild.

Actually, they were playing a game of tag.

Ooh, that sounds fun.

It was, until a friend accidentally pushed Mohammed and he fell over,

smashing his lip on a slide.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

In school, they told my dad that he had to come and pick me up,

and take me to hospital.

Well, you're in the right place.

In comes nurse practitioner Julia Maxted

to inspect that painful pout.

Nurse Julia checks for any damage around the surrounding area.

So, can you move your mouth from side to side for me?

Let me just check in here for those.

All OK. No wobbles there.

What we'll do is we'll probably put a little stitch in there.

So, Mohammed's cut needs stitches,

but because it's in a delicate place on his face,

he's being sent to specialist doctors to sew it up.

What sometimes happens with the cuts that go across the edge,

which is called the vermilion border,

is you can end up with a bump in it, which means they have that forever.

The vermilion border is the line on the outside edge of your lips

where they join the skin on your face.

There are lots of blood vessels in your lips,

and the skin is thinner.

As Mohammed's cut is quite deep, the doctors have to be careful

how they repair the injury to ensure he's not left with a bumpy scar.

After a clean of that crevice, Mohammed is sent home.

He'll be back tomorrow morning to see the plastic surgery team.

-Would you like a sticker?

-Yeah.

-Ooh, can I have a sticker?

-No, Xand.

Find out later how Mohammed gets on.

Ouch!

And now to our lab.

It's time for some big body experiments -

some of them gory...

This is a real pair of cow's lungs.

..some extreme...

It's freezing!

We're ready. Are you?

Just don't try anything you see here at home.

Today, we're looking at how your blood flows

through a one-way system around your body.

-Morning, Xand. What are you doing?

-Ah, Chris. I'm glad you're here.

I'm going to make a formal complaint

about this new bed they've put in the lab for me to nap in.

-I mean, it's terrible.

-It's not a bed.

It's my scientific inversion table

for doing physiological experiments - on YOU.

-Take a look at this.

-Ah!

When I lie Xand down like this, his veins bulge,

his head turns red as his head fills with blood.

-I feel terrible.

-And he's getting a headache.

-But...

-Ah!

..when I sit him up this way,

the veins don't bulge around his feet.

His foot doesn't swell,

it doesn't turn red, and he doesn't get a foot ache.

So, what's that all about? Well, it's all because of valves.

The blood flow in your body is a one-way system

and valves are an essential part of it.

Your heart pumps out blood to your feet with the help of gravity.

But then, on its way back up to the heart,

your blood passes through valves, which are like little doors

slamming shut to stop the blood falling back down the wrong way.

-Well, take a look at this.

-This is not for the squeamish.

We're going to show you a real valve in action.

This is a section of a cow's leg.

You can see here the artery...

..and a vein.

And these are a bit bigger than your arteries and veins,

but they're basically very similar.

Arteries carry blood away from the heart

and veins carry blood back to the heart with the help of valves.

In your leg, the blood can only flow through the vein in one direction.

And that's back up towards your heart.

Let's put it to the test and see what happens

when we try to force it to go the wrong way.

Can you see the vein swelling up?

And nothing is coming out

the funnel at the bottom,

and that's because valves

are stopping the blood flowing through them.

That is amazing. I've actually never seen that before.

And I can show you another thing

that Chris and I had never seen before today,

which is the valve inside the vein itself.

We've cut it open and laid it flat,

and if you look right here in the middle,

you can see two very thin flaps of skin which make up the valve.

That flap of skin is enough to seal off the vein

when the blood tries to flow in the wrong direction.

It is really cool to see how tiny that membrane is

when it does such an important job.

In fact, it's SO important,

we're going to show you how disastrous it would be

if we didn't have valves.

And I thought I'd make it into a little competition.

Chris, prepare for the Battle of Valves vs No Valves.

I've made two absolutely perfect models

showing the inside of me and Chris.

Not sure they're THAT perfect, Xand.

The bowl represents our hearts.

The red tube is an artery carrying blood all around our body.

And this other tube is a vein pushing blood back up to the heart.

My vein has valves,

and Chris's has no valves.

What we're going to do is put our blood,

represented by the fluid, into the heart,

and then use this pump to try and get the blood

back to the heart up the leg veins as quickly as possible.

Let's put the blood into the heart.

Whose veins will win - valves or no valves?

Three, two, one. HORN HONKS

This is trickier than I thought.

You're making hard work of that, Chris. It's a breeze for me.

One by one, each valve opens to let my blood travel upwards.

But most importantly, they slam shut

to stop the blood from falling back again.

My green liquid is making its way very easily and gently

back to the heart. It's extremely effective!

It's not fair. No matter how hard I pump,

the blood just keeps falling back down the vein to my foot

cos there aren't any valves.

Without valves, I'd have a huge, swollen foot full of blood

and nothing would be getting back to my heart.

Meanwhile, I've won!

With the help of these valves, it's proved extremely easy

to get blood all the way back to the heart.

The only problem is I'm beginning to wish

that I'd connected the vein to the heart. I wasn't expecting it

to work so well. Whoops!

So, we've shown you what valves actually look like

and that blood travels around your body in a one-way system,

which is why your feet don't get red or swell.

And we've proved just how important valves are,

because without them, the blood in your body

would never make it back to your heart.

Now, where's that new exercise bike I ordered?

-Xand!

-Chris!

These new lab beds are absolutely terrible.

I mean, this one has ruined nap time.

I barely got a wink! I'm going to need another complaint form.

Right, Xand. Erm, I'll go and print one off, then.

It's almost as if he doesn't want me sleeping in the lab.

BEEPING

-We're both... BOTH:

-Ouch & About.

I'm hitting the wards with my Ouch bleeper.

Have you got a question for me?

Wow!

And I'm hitting the streets to answer your medical mysteries.

In the hospital canteen, Xand is busily...

-Spinning plates?

-BEEPING

That's your bleeper. Get on with answering some questions.

This one's from Mollie, who has an infection.

-Hi, Mollie. How are you?

-Hi, Dr Xand.

Have you got a question for me?

Yeah. How does your body produce insulin?

-What's the diagnosis, Doc?

-Sounds to me like a case of...

Excellent question.

OK, the pancreas is the organ that produces insulin.

And insulin is a hormone that allows your cells to take in sugar

and store it or use it.

So, when you have a meal, you eat sugar,

your insulin levels go up and that means that you can absorb the sugar.

Now, why are you interested in insulin?

Because I've got type 1 diabetes.

And for you, how does your body produce insulin? It doesn't.

-How do you get your insulin?

-By a pen - an insulin pen.

If you don't take it, what happens to your blood sugar?

-It, like, goes really, really high.

-It goes really high.

-Mollie, have I answered your question?

-Yes.

Well, you have earned an "Operation Ouch!" sticker.

-Thank you.

-Right, thanks very much. Bye.

-Bye!

Meanwhile, I'm out on the street. Get your quirky queries solved here.

-Dr Chris.

-Oh, hello.

-Can I ask you a question, please?

-Of course you can.

-Why do we faint?

-Why do we faint?

Ryan, that is an awesome question.

-Have you ever fainted?

-Yes, I have. I did faint when I was in the car.

I kept vomiting and then I just fainted.

So, when you vomit, you lose a lot of fluid from your body,

and that means you have a bit less blood volume

and so your heart finds it harder to get blood to your brain.

That's what causes you to faint. But there's another thing.

When you vomit, the nerves from your stomach

can actually send a signal to your heart and slow it right down,

and that can make you faint, too.

-But you're not going to vomit on me?

-No.

-You promise?

-Promise.

Don't vomit on me. You can vomit on Dr Xand.

Oi, Chris!

Give me five, please.

So cheeky!

Back in hospital, I've got another call.

It's from Brogan Jean, who's having physiotherapy.

-Hello, Brogan Jean. How are you?

-Oh, hi.

-Have you got a question for me?

-What's hypermobility?

-What's the diagnosis, Doc?

-Sounds like a case of...

I'm hyped up for this one.

So, hypermobility just means the joint is more mobile.

It is caused by differences in collagen.

And collagen is the stuff that makes up ligaments,

and ligaments are what hold your bones to each other.

And if you have very flexible collagen,

it means your muscles can get more easily damaged and torn,

and it means your joints can also get more easily stretched and torn

and be less stable.

Now, I'm guessing that you've got hypermobility.

-Is that right?

-Yeah. I can bend my joint.

I can't get my thumb anywhere near my wrist.

-And then I can do that.

-Wow!

All the things that you're doing, I can't do them,

so if I was in a dance, where I had to be very flexible,

do any high kicks or anything like that, I couldn't do any of that.

-Whereas you've got...

-But I can.

-See, you can.

I do street dance. I do pop-ups.

Can you show me what up a pop-up is?

-MUSIC PLAYS

-Uh-oh, dancing dad alert.

-I'm not even doing it in time.

-Cut! Let's leave it there, shall we?

Here is an "Operation Ouch!" sticker for you.

-CHEERING

-Thank you very much.

-Bye!

-Bye!

Job done for today. Clinic closed.

Time to head to the emergency department to find out

-how Mohammed's getting on with his...

-With his injured lip.

-With his injured lip.

-Lip.

Earlier, Mohammed arrived in the emergency department

with a sore mush.

He was playing tag with his friends

when someone accidentally pushed him.

Then he fell onto the edge

of a slide and smashed his lip.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

Mohammed's cut lip was cleaned up and he was sent home.

But he's come back into hospital to see the plastic surgery team.

-Hang on. Who's that, Chris?

-That's his sister Braha,

here for moral support.

After a checkup, it's confirmed

Mohammed will need stitches in surgery.

Over to Miss Parneet Gill

to get him all sewn up.

First, Mohammed is given an anaesthetic

to put him to sleep so he won't feel a thing.

Once he's asleep, surgeon Parneet will put some markings

on the vermilion border - the edge of Mohammed's lip -

so she has a guide of exactly where she needs to stitch.

Here comes a gross alert!

These stitches are ones that come out by themselves.

They stay put for about a week or so

and then they'll fall out by themselves.

But what about that scar, Doc?

There'll be a little bit of a scar, but, luckily, cuts here

tend to heal really well and the scars settle down really nicely,

-so he should be fine.

-Good one, Doc.

A few hours later, Mohamed wakes up from surgery.

-How are you feeling, fella?

-Feeling better.

Any advice for when we're playing in the playground?

Be careful. Don't bump into things.

-HE CHUCKLES

-Be careful!

-Too right!

-Top tips. BOTH:

-Bye!

Still to come, keep your eyes peeled in A&E.

Family secrets come out in the wash.

-Your middle name's Gerald.

-Shhh!

And we're on the run.

I didn't say go!

But first...

..did you know your heart beats over 100,000 times a day?

That's about 42 million times

-a year.

-Wow!

Ouch!

Amazing people do lots of important jobs

inside and outside hospitals that help to keep you safe.

But what will happen when we have a go?

I feel a bit silly.

This is Operation Takeover.

So, who is today's hospital hero, Xand?

Well, Chris, I'll give you a clue.

Today's hero might help you out

if you accidentally spilled some sauce on your scrubs.

-SQUELCHING

-Ah!

Or if some custard missed your mouth while you were eating.

Custard? But I don't even like custard!

In fact, if you think about it, staff and patients in a hospital

-can get almost anything on them.

-Xand,

I think you've made your point.

We're about to take over the job of today's hero, Michelle,

who works in the hospital laundry department

at Ormskirk and District General Hospital.

Whoa! So, is this a washing machine?

-Yeah, these are all our washing machines.

-Wow!

It's a whopper!

How many items can you get in a single wash?

Weight-wise, I know there's 55 kilos.

My machine at home can do six kilos,

and this can do almost ten times more.

That's amazing. Over 8,000 items are washed a day.

Everything from bedsheets to patient gowns to doctors' uniforms.

-And at this point, all this laundry's sterile?

-It is, yes.

Everything needs to be bacteria-free,

so patients don't pick up bugs whilst in hospital.

All of our washes are set to

72 degrees to make sure everything

is thoroughly disinfected.

There's even a machine to dry and fold the sheets.

I absolutely have to get one of these at home.

XAND CHUCKLES

We've seen just how important and tough

the work of the hospital laundry is in keeping patients clean and safe.

But when it comes to us having a go at working here,

will we turn in a spotless performance,

or will it all tumble out of control?

Get it? Like a tumble dryer?

It's time for us to take over as laundry workers.

OK, today, I'm going to set you three challenges.

The first is sorting,

the second is folding, and the third is sewing.

-Sewing?!

-Yes, Xand.

The laundry team also mend damaged items

and sew new ones for the hospital.

Speed and efficiency are one of the things

I'm going to be judging you on today.

Speed and Efficiency are my middle names.

-Well...

-Your middle name's Gerald.

-Shh!

First, Michelle shows us the importance

of sorting through the laundry.

Surgeon's hat.

Sometimes, we find mobile phones, jewellery, soft toys.

Next time I'm in a hospital,

I will empty my pockets a little bit more carefully.

Nightgowns are folded in a very particular way.

Upside down, with the print facing us.

All right. I've already got it wrong.

This is more complicated than I thought.

Tuck one arm underneath.

Just fold that over. Just make sure it looks nice.

And Diane gives us a quick demonstration

on how to sew a baby's blanket.

It needs to have neat lines and corners.

-Do you have to be careful of the needle?

-Yes.

-Oh.

Always keep your fingers back this side of the needle.

All right, let's get on with it before I change my mind.

-Three, two, one, go!

-WHISTLE BLOWS

OK, sorting laundry -

never a strong point at home.

OK. So, that towel looks OK.

OK, that looks good.

That needs re-washing, I think.

Ah, he's spotted the re-wash one.

I'd be very unhappy if I was sick and I got that towel.

Well done, Chris.

Did YOU see the dirt, Xand?

Towel.

Oh, dear. He's missed a dirty towel. Let's see if he finds the mobile.

Look what I've found!

Bet YOU don't, Chris.

Hold the phone.

OK, smarty-pants.

Let's see if you're any good at folding.

That one's not folded right.

There we go.

See, this is how you do it.

Very nice.

My arms are getting tired, holding everything up.

Ooh, another one the wrong way round.

Right, folded. Sewing next.

My most dangerous challenge yet.

I've never used a sewing machine in my life.

Oh! OK, here we go.

Ah! Oh, oh!

Come on, Chris. Let's see what you're made of.

Ah!

This corner hasn't quite worked out.

This is so difficult.

Oh, no!

Michelle's not looking too impressed.

Well, I think I'm about done,

so I'll just cut that and have a look.

There's a stretch here - probably at least a 2cm stretch -

where the hem is pretty much the way it's meant to be.

Hmm, it's time for the verdict.

So, how did we do on the sorting?

Xand, you did miss everything except for the mobile phone.

-Did he find the dirty towel?

-He didn't.

In terms of folding, Xand, you were much neater.

What? If you're so good at folding,

why don't you ever fold up any of your things at home?

Why indeed?

So, it's one-all at the moment,

and everything hangs on how well we hemmed the blankets.

Dr Chris, you were faster. However, Xand's is much neater.

So, Dr Xand, you are the winner.

-Yes!

-Outrageous!

I think what we've seen here is how important and hard

working in the hospital laundry is, and how this is definitely a job

that is best left to the professionals.

Michelle, I think we need to give our uniforms back.

On a nice day like this, Xand and I like nothing more

-than going for a run.

-We do! We do!

But running in a park like this can be dangerous.

I don't think so, Chris.

You could trip on uneven ground and sprain an ankle.

Not me, Chris. I always keep my eyes on the ground ahead of me.

Well, you could be so busy looking at the ground

that you run into someone else and injure them.

I don't think so, Chris.

-I'm very observant.

-Or with a running style like Xand's,

you could easily hit yourself in the face with your own arm.

-Everything all right?

-Yes, everything's fine.

There's a big group of people over there, though.

Looks like someone's having difficulty breathing.

-Do you think they're having an asthma attack?

-I don't know,

but there's lots of people around, so we probably don't need to check.

-Or DO we?

-Injury alert!

Come on, Xand.

SIREN BLARES

VIOLIN PLAYS BADLY

Or not.

The correct answer is B...

Let's see if this lot get it right.

They've not had any advice, so they're winging it.

-Are you ready to try and help? ALL:

-Yes!

-Off you go!

Esme and Isaac are both pretending

that they're having an asthma attack.

Are you all right?

Anyone with asthma should have their inhaler and spacer nearby.

Will the teams spot them among these random items?

They've got the inhaler out.

This would not be very relaxing.

She's standing up. She's really crowded.

They do seem to be getting him to blow up balloons,

which is the last thing you'd want to do

if you were having an asthma attack.

It looks more like they're planning a birthday party now.

HORN TOOTS

Our teams didn't quite get this right.

They did have some good ideas...

I'm going to call 999.

..and also some dodgy ones.

Time to show you how it should be done.

Remember, we're showing you what to do in an emergency,

but it's always best to get an adult.

If Chris is having an asthma attack, I want to get him sat down

so he's a bit more relaxed.

Go on, have a seat. That's good.

And try and breathe a bit more slowly if you can.

You're doing a good job.

He's got his asthma inhaler with him and his spacer device.

Put it against your face, a couple of puffs in there,

and then big, deep, slow breaths. That's good.

Then what I want you to do, Chris,

is see if you can slow your breathing down.

-How are you feeling, Chris?

-Better. Thanks, Xand.

Right. So, the important things are sit them down and get them relaxed,

get them their inhaler and give them a couple of puffs,

get them to slow their breathing down and calm them down,

and if they're not getting better or getting worse, call an ambulance.

-You got that? ALL:

-Yes.

-Are you ready to give it another go?

-Yes!

Brilliant! Off you go!

So, if you see someone who's having an asthma attack,

you should get the person to sit comfortably,

find their inhaler and help them to take it.

And if the inhaler doesn't help,

get an adult and call 999.

Esme, how do you think they did?

-Good.

-You know, Chris, it's really good

to see they've got everything under control,

but I am very pleased we went to check.

That's right. You should never assume

that everything is in hand. They might have needed our help.

Well, I'd say the last one to the ice cream van

has to buy all the ice cream.

Xand? Xand! I didn't say go!

Ouch!

Let's head back to accident and emergency.

To see our next patient.

And this one's itching to see a doctor.

Over in Liverpool, there's a six-year-old

waiting with his mum in the emergency department.

-Hi there. My name is Angel.

-Hi, Angel!

HE HUMS ANGEL THEME TUNE

It's the Angel theme tune!

Oh, hang on, it's the Angel face-off.

Hmm, scary! But why are you here, fella?

There's all these red spots here, here. Like, everywhere.

On, no! Red spots are everywhere.

Well, how did it happen?

Angel was sitting in school

listening to his teacher telling a story

when he felt the urge to be sick.

Breaking news - Angel's mum has arrived to pick him up from school.

At home, Angel was lounging on the sofa feeling unwell.

News just in - Mum spotted a rash appear on Angel's jaw.

It's spreading fast.

Angel carried on watching TV, but the rash was starting to itch.

Keeping you up-to-date

on "Ouch! News".

Angel felt really poorly. The rash was out of control.

Newsflash - Angel's rushed straight to hospital.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

-It feels, like, itchy.

-It feels itchy?

Well, here to check out that rash

in a flash is Dr Shirley Mulvaney.

I'm just going to have a look at you, OK?

I'm going to press your tummy a little bit.

Can you tell me if it's sore anywhere?

Dr Shirley first feels Angel's tummy.

-It's a bit sore, yeah?

-Mm.

Then she checks his heartbeat

to make sure it's in good working order.

Because Angel's been so sick,

she needs to rule out any infections or injuries.

-So, what's the verdict, Doc?

-His chest is absolutely clear,

his heart's beating absolutely fine,

and there isn't anything that worries me

when I have a feel of his tummy. It all looks very viral.

The rash - it's almost like a hay fever of the skin.

A rash is a noticeable change in the texture or colour of the skin.

Skin may become scaly,

bumpy, itchy or red.

Rashes can be serious.

A rash that won't disappear under a glass could be meningitis,

so it's important to get it checked by a doctor.

However, in Angel's case,

his rash has been caused by a viral infection.

There's no magic treatment for the viral infection,

so he wouldn't need any antibiotics.

We can give him a medicine that essentially stops him from itching.

Angel is given antihistamines,

which will calm the rash and help relieve the itching.

Now he's feeling better, there's something on Angel's mind.

-What do you want for dinner?

-French fries and chicken.

-French fries and chicken?

-Yeah.

-Anything else?

-That's it.

-That's it? Are you sure?

-Yeah.

Sounds good to me!

-So, Angel's off home for his French fries and chicken.

-BOTH:

-Bye!

Next time on "Operation Ouch!" it's party time...

What a disaster.

-..I'm put through my paces...

-Keep going with those legs.

-..and there's a baby on board.

-Ooh, he's the wrong way round there.

Actually, should be head the other way.

So, we'll see you next time for more...

For more...

"Operation Ouch!"

LAUGHTER

Ah! Oh! Chris!

Thank you. Bye.

-I think that went very well.

-Phew!

Honestly, I'm going to need another complaint form.

LAUGHTER

"Operation Ouch!"