Episode 2 Operation Ouch!

(Operation ouch.)

'He's Dr Chris.

'And he's Dr Xand. Yes, we're twins.

'Do you know just how brilliant your body really is?

'Well, now's the time to find out.

'We'll be uncovering the ins and outs of what you're made of.'

I've got a big hole in my head.

'We'll be doing awesome experiments...'

HIGH PITCHED: You sound ridiculous.

-LOW PITCHED:

-I can't speak.

THEY LAUGH

-'..as we push our own bodies to the limits...'

-OK, here we go.

Oh, oh...

'..to show you all the incredible things your body can do.

Oh, no!

Hang around, because this is going to be fun.

-Coming up today.

-On Operation Ouch...

'Olivia and Rees come in to accident and emergency,

'but the team are ready to fix them.

'There's shock and horror in the streets,

'as we take a peek at this man's amazing body.'

SHE SCREAMS

'We're going to show you a real human brain and look inside it too.

'And I join an emergency rescue team

'as they race to the scene of an accident.'

Just keep breathing. Every time you feel pain,

take a really nice deep breath.

(Ouch.)

Hospital doctors and nurses always expect the unexpected.

Let's see how they fix our first patient.

'This one's a bit gory, injury fans.

'We're in A&E at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool,

'where 11 year-old Olivia has come in with a metal hook

'from her dinner pass stuck in her hand.

'Like I told you, gory.'

'I had hold of it and then my mate',

he pulled it off my neck, because he went, can I have it? And I went, no.

-'Right, OK'.

-I said no. And then he pulled it...

-'Right.'

-I went, ow!

-'Er, yes.'

-All everybody could do was...

-'Er, OK.'

-That's not real...

-'Hold on. Take a breather, Olivia'.

-What?

'Let's start again, shall we?

'It was lunchtime at school and Olivia was in the food queue.

'She was wearing her dinner passed around her neck

'and contemplating the sausages,

'when her schoolmates started larking about.

'He said, "Can I borrow your pass?" She said, "No, you can't."

'So he pulled her pass really hard.

'Olivia tried to hold onto it, he pulled,

'she pulled and the next minute, the hook went into her hand.

'Ouch.

'That looks nasty.'

-Hiya!

-'Not that Olivia seems too down about it.

'Still, mum, dad and brother George have arrived for some moral support.

'So, what do you think of your sister's wound then, George?

-It looks like a pomegranate.

-'A pome what?'

-A pomegranate,

that's got stuck in there, with a hook.

It's a blood clot,

because if that wasn't there, then all the blood would just whoosh.

Let's see what nurse Laura makes of it.

We need to have a little an X-ray

so we can see how deep it's gone and how we're going to get it out.

'But Olivia's mum raises another problem.

'Olivia is due to take part in her school play TONIGHT.'

She's supposed to be in the Bugsy Malone drama production

and she's wanting to still be in the show.

-Is it a practice tonight?

-No, it's proper like.

She's been practising since October.

'Only three hours to go till the play starts,

'but will Olivia make it on stage?'

It just depends, I need to see how deep it's gone in first.

'With the clock ticking, let's get those X-rays done.

'If the hook turned out to be too close to the bone,

'Olivia may need an operation.'

Ah.

'We'll be back later to find out

'if Olivia can be de-hooked in time for that play.'

(Ouch.)

'This is our lab,

'where we're going to do some incredible body experiments.'

Ow, that really hurt.

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

Today, we're sneezing.

I'm going to show you something about sneezing that you won't know

and Xand, I'm pretty sure even as a doctor, you won't know this either.

'First of all, I need to get Xand to sneeze.'

Try rolling up the corner of this piece of tissue paper

-and stick it in your nose.

-Really?

HE SNEEZES LOUDLY

'Xand! Cover your mouth.'

I'm covered in spit. So, what happened there?

I put something up my nose and my body just blew it out,

because it didn't like it.

How does it clear your nose?

You sort of go... like that and just blow everything out of your nose.

That's what you think happens?

This is really good, so even doctors

honestly think this happens when you sneeze

and that is completely wrong.

You don't blow anything out your nose when you sneeze.

Everything comes out your mouth.

We can prove it to you if you look at this video of me sneezing.

'OK, here we go. I'm going... I'm going... I've gone.'

'That's all saliva that was in my mouth,

'but nothing is coming out of my nose.

'It's only after I sneeze that my body will create mucus

'to flush out whatever irritated my nose in the first place

'and that's when snot will come out of my nostrils.'

So we've shown you that when you sneeze,

the spray only comes out your mouth.

But imagine if Chris had been ill when he sneezed.

Every single one of those droplets

could have contained disease-spreading germs.

And that's why it's so important to cover your mouth.

Now we're going to show you just how big and powerful a sneeze can be.

We're going to create our own work of art.

We'll both drink different coloured liquids,

then get a sneeze going to create our masterpiece.

Get ready for germ art!

OK, so are you going to go first?

HE SNEEZES THEY GIGGLE

That's really good!

'Thanks! Now you'll notice an amazing splatter effect,

'and that's all down to the speed our sneezes are travelling.

'100kmph, to be precise.'

'And remember, if we were ill, that would all be germs.'

I really like what you've done there, though. You've really drawn...

I've got the nose right.

I don't know why everyone doesn't paint this way!

Now, with all this sneezing, look what's started to happen.

Yep, snot. And that's the mucus our bodies have created

to flush out what was making us sneeze.

I hope we've painted for you a clear picture of why it's so important

to cover your mouth when you sneeze,

use a tissue, or do it into your elbow.

You've got a little snot...

In the UK, there are hundreds

of rapid response medical teams on standby.

And they need to be on the scene of an emergency in minutes.

We're going on call with the UK's emergency services,

heading into the thick of the action to help save lives.

Now it's Xand's turn on the front line.

This is the West Midlands Ambulance Service

rapid response vehicle,

and the paramedics who drive these are on call 24-7,

so that they're always ready to deal with medical emergencies.

-Jan, can I hit the lights?

-Go on, then!

SIRENS WAIL Yes!

This fast medical service takes thousands of 999 calls every day.

If you had an accident,

they're the people you'd want to come to your rescue.

On call with me today is paramedic, Jan Vann.

We're on a 999 call to see an 18-year-old girl

who's fallen and hurt her shoulder.

We don't know anything more than that.

In the call centre, they're putting information into the computer,

and that's coming up on screen.

We can see she's got a hurt shoulder. She is breathing, she's conscious.

So when you phone 999, the ambulance can be heading towards you

even as you're giving more information.

It's only five minutes since the call came in.

We're almost at the scene, and I've got my camera ready,

so you'll be able to see exactly what's going on.

-Hiya!

-Hi!

The patient is called Saffron,

and her shoulder's clearly giving her a lot of pain.

I've got gas and air that I'm going to give you.

Put it in your mouth and breathe in.

After a few puffs on the gas and air,

Jan can get a chance to examine Saffron.

-You weren't knocked out, at all, were you?

-No.

What Jan's doing now is giving her gas and air.

It should make her much more comfortable.

Then we can look at the shoulder.

-SHE CRIES OUT

-Sorry!

I think she's broken her collarbone.

When you try and feel for the hard bone,

there's a bit of a gap there and it disappears,

and she's in quite a lot of pain.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to put a sling on your arm.

That's going to support it for you, so you can let go of it, OK?

Jan's been able to see that

she's probably got a broken collarbone.

Very painful, but not life-threatening, which is good.

All right?

So if you take really big, lungfuls of gas.

Just keep breathing.

Every time feel pain,

take a really nice, deep breath.

That's really good.

Deep breaths, love.

You can see how much pain affects people.

She's really sweaty,

she's not really able to speak.

That bone there feels OK, yeah?

Though we think she's just got a broken collarbone,

which isn't that serious an injury,

we've got the ECG, the monitors, we're taking blood pressure,

we're looking at her heart, at her breathing.

All of that's to make sure she hasn't got any other injuries,

or underlying problems.

-Is the gas making you feel better?

-Yeah.

Keep breathing it in, then, OK?

You're doing brilliantly now.

You'll notice how much better Saffron looks

with the gas and air and with the sling.

Her arm's immobilised

so the bones aren't grinding,

and the colour's come back to her cheeks.

She's looking much better. She still needs to go to hospital,

but you can see how much of a difference it makes

having Jan here quickly.

An ambulance has arrived

to take Saffron to hospital for further treatment.

So, with our job here done, we head back to the car,

ready for when the next call comes in.

It's thanks to paramedics like Jan who can get to a scene fast

that means that, in an emergency,

you'll never be more than a few minutes away from medical care.

Still to come, Xand hits the hospital wards,

and takes on a plaster cast challenge.

Can you stop your friends from standing up with one finger?

We'll show you how to do it.

And I'm going to show you the insides of a real human brain.

The brain inside your head is soft and squishy.

Wow, that's amazing! And so's this.

An ordinary high-street in an ordinary town,

full of ordinary people.

But one man here has an extraordinary power.

Is it the ability to get away with wearing a lilac shirt?

No. Although he does do that as well.

No, his extraordinary power lies behind those sunglasses.

Take that!

-THEY SQUEAL

-And that!

-THEY SCREAM AND LAUGH

-How do you do that?

Oh, are you serious?!

HE LAUGHS CHILD SCREAMS

No, I can't look!

Wondering what all the fuss is about?

-Oh, my God!

-Well, check this out.

This is Antonio "Popeye" Francis.

I can't imagine where he got that nickname from!

But you may have seen him on Britain's Got Talent.

Antonio first discovered he could pop his eyes out

when he was seven years old.

I was combing my hair. I had a big Afro.

As I pulled the comb, it got stuck in my hair.

And as I pulled it, my left eye just popped out on its own.

So how does Antonio's amazing body do this?

Behind our eyes lie six muscles

controlling the movement of our eyeballs.

Antonio has the amazing ability to contract these muscles,

pushing his eyeballs out.

He can do it up to 200 times without needing a rest,

and he reckons they come out a whopping 12.3 mm!

Now that's amazing!

It's nothing like Antonio.

Let's head back to Accident and Emergency

to see where we're at with our patient.

Back in Liverpool, 11-year-old Olivia's in hospital

with a horrid hand injury.

Her mate was trying to pull her dinner pass from around her neck,

when the metal hook got stuck in her thumb.

Due to perform the school play tonight,

she's been anxiously awaiting

her X-ray results to find out if she'll need surgery.

Olivia's X-ray shows that

she has got the clip stuck within the soft tissue.

It's not touching bone, so that's really good.

So hopefully, she'll be able to

have that removed in A&E without any surgery.

That's good news. The hook may be lying close to the bone,

but it isn't touching it.

-'With a bit of luck, then, tonight's show might go on!'

-Thank you.

Meet nurse practitioner, Julia Maxted.

She'll be the one hoping to unhook that hook.

But first...

Pop your lips round that, and take nice, deep breaths.

And it'll make a funny noise. That's it.

Although Olivia doesn't need surgery,

removing the hook will still be painful,

so to numb the pain, nurse Julia gives our patient some gas and air.

It's often called laughing gas, and you can see why.

-SHE GIGGLES

-This is boss!

Laughing gas is a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen.

As you breathe it in, the gas numbs the pain receptors in your brain,

making things hurt less and giving you a giggle along the way.

With Olivia looking relaxed,

it's time to tell the hook to sling its hook.

You're being brilliant.

-SHE GIGGLES

-Is that making you laugh?

-Ow!

-Sorry!

That's not, though!

If it hurts, keep puffing on that.

Nurse Julia is carefully trying to ease the hook out.

It's nearly there.

All done.

Yes, it's out!

The trickiest thing was opening it up.

The clamp bit was quite stiff.

Have another puff, keep puffing.

You're all right! It's done!

And doing it without moving it, because that's when it hurts.

So actually, it's just actually pushing it in

and then pulling it without her really noticing what you were doing.

GEORGE: How did she get on with the laughing gas?

I started laughing!

Can have some?

No, George, you can't have any!

That horrible hook's only just out,

but Olivia's already got bigger things on her mind.

Can I do my show, then?

SHE LAUGHS

Well, that's dedication for you!

We'll see how you are in an hour.

Well, that was a pretty big hook!

Good job getting it out!

Unhooked and happy,

Olivia is ready to star in her play at last.

We've got some incredible body tricks to show you.

Want to find out how to stop your friends moving with just one finger?

OK, come and stand in a ring - at arm's length.

Cos I don't like the way you all smell.

-I'm going to stop you from standing up with one finger.

-No, you're not.

OK, sit down. Now put your head against the wall.

And I'm going to stop you standing up with just one finger there.

OK, now try to stand up.

Stand up. All you've got to do is make sure your hands on your knees.

-Do you think one of you could stop him from standing up?

-Yes!

Who's the smallest? Come forward and point your finger like that.

-You'll never stop me.

-Now, ready?

LAUGHTER

It's not just Xand that can't stand up.

No-one can.

I can't do it!

You're not going to hurt me, Solomon. You'll never keep me down!

You don't really have to be super strong to make this trick work.

It's more about balance. Watch what happens when Xand stands up.

He leans forward, and now he can stand up.

So you have to move all your weight over your feet. Sit down.

Now stand up. If you stop him moving forward, then he can't do anything.

Because he can't stand up like that or he'll fall over backwards.

Stop it!

Try it yourself, and see how you can be a superhero with just one finger.

Now it's time for us to hit the hospitals and show you what goes on.

Today, Xand is on duty in the plaster room.

If you break a bone, you'll come here to get it plastered.

Plastering broken limbs is a technique that has been

used for over 200 years.

This team sees hundreds of patients each week,

so they need to work fast.

A plaster cast keeps a broken bone in place

so that it can heal in the correct position.

-Can you tell me what happened?

-I've broken my thumb.

-Tripped and it snapped. This bit here.

-Right in the joint.

When you get a cast like Jack,

first, a sock goes on to stop the cast itching.

Then, a layer of cotton wool padding,

and finally a layer of plaster which sets superquick into a hard shell.

So you're just going to look like, "Yeah, Jack is here, yes to this."

Everyone who gets a cast on obviously has to have it taken off.

-Like Jordan here.

-What did you do?

-I broke my ankle.

-How did you do that?

-I was playing rugby.

-"Love and kisses?"

Looks like it might all have been worth it!

THEY LAUGH

To get that cast off requires a saw, but not just any saw.

Check this out.

What this saw can do is distinguish between hard and soft things.

So it can cut through things like wood or plaster cast,

but it won't damage anything soft like your skin.

Let me show you on your hands.

That's amazing, it just tickles.

That's because it has a special vibrating blade.

When used by an expert, it means your cast can be off quickly

and without hurting you.

Anyway, time to meet our next patient.

-Hang on, I recognise that person.

-What have you done?

-I broke my leg, what do you think I did.

-Did you come off your swing?

-Come off your trampoline?

-Yes.

Actually, the reason I'm here is because I'm going to get Xand

to race Julie to see who can get the cast off quicker.

'On one arm will be specialist orthopaedic practitioner Julie.

'With 17 years' experience.

'On the other will be Dr Xand, who has been on the ward

'for just one day.'

On your marks, set, go!

'This ward sees hundreds of patients a week,

'so the team have to be able to get cast on and off quickly.

'The question is, is Xand up to the job?

'Julie is already on the inside. Come on, Xand, what are you doing?

'A quick snip with the scissors and I think we have a winner!

'Somebody is still going, though.'

-Am I winning?

-Let me think about that. No.

Oh, my goodness. Is he ever going to finish?

-Yes!

-About time too.

-What was the margin?

Julie, you finished in an impressive 51 seconds.

Xand, you took just under five minutes.

If you worked here, which would be ridiculous,

Julie would see five times as many people as you.

'That just goes to how skilled experts like Julie are.

'So if you break a bone, you'll be in safe hands - quite literally.'

Believe it or not, the answer is B.

Your brain really does perform 10 quadrillion calculations a second.

Which means your brain is the most complicated computer on the planet.

-So why is it so wrinkly?

-This is a case for Investigation Ouch.

I'm here at the Brain Cut Room at University College London,

and I'm about to get really close to a human brain.

This is not for the squeamish.

We've got exclusive access to this human brain to show you

all its inner workings.

This organ controls every single thing you do.

Even now, your brain is busy sending messages all over your body.

This brain feels rubbery because it has been preserved.

But the brain inside your head right now is soft and squishy.

That's because our brains are made up of 75 percent water.

The rest is mostly fat.

The average adult brain weighs 1.5 kilos.

That's as much as three tins of baked beans.

Try picking them up and you will see how much weight a neck has to carry.

But there's more to find out then that,

so let's pick the brains of a specialist.

Meet Dr Helen Ling, a brain doctor, or neurologist.

So why does the brain look like this? Why is it wrinkly?

The surface of our brain is actually folded.

These bumps and grooves increase the surface area of our brain.

So if we unfolded all of this, it would be enormous.

We would need a head the size of a surfboard.

How does the brain sit inside the skull,

is it just resting gently on the bones?

Our brain is surrounded by a clear,

colourless fluid, which acts as a cushion which protects the brain.

When you're at the swimming pool and you feel weightless on a lilo,

that's the same thing your brain is doing.

It's just chilling out on this fluid inside your skull.

Hey, baby!

But it does a lot more than just chill out.

This big, wrinkly structure is controlling your body 24/7.

Yes, even when you're asleep.

There are different sections in charge of different jobs,

but which bit does what?

Well, towards the front is the motor cortex.

This tells you when to move

by sending signals down your spinal-cord.

When I'm hungry and my stomach is gurgling, which bit is doing that?

-It would be the hypothalamus.

-This bit right in the middle.

-Right here.

-So when I'm hungry,

this bit right in the middle sends out chemicals that tell me to eat.

And when I've eaten, it sends out chemicals telling me

I can stop eating.

What about memories, where are they kept?

The new memories are kept in the hippocampus,

which is right inside here.

You can actually see it over here.

The hippocampus is like a temporary drive in the computer,

so new memory is kept there.

But when we're asleep, the hippocampus backs up new memories

so you can remember them years later.

So although the brain is full of fat and water,

it is actually one of the most amazing computers on earth.

Not bad for something that looks like a sponge.

It's time to meet another patient in the emergency department.

The staff may think they've seen it all,

but they won't be expecting this.

Accident and Emergency. Here, lives are saved.

Doctors battle with serious injuries, terrible accidents,

life and death traumas.

So what terrifying problem has 13-year-old Rhys brought with him?

-Basically, I was watching television last night with my nan.

-Go on.

-And I was scratching my toenail and I picked it off.

-No way, you didn't!

And I went to scratch my nose and the toenail went right up my nose.

I'm sorry, what? He thinks he's got a toenail up his nose?! Apparently.

Rhys was watching TV with his nan, chilling out,

picking his toenails, as you do.

-I most certainly do not!

-When he pulled off a biggie -

a right naily corker.

But then his nose started itching. He wanted to scratch.

And with that cheesy nail still on his finger, he went for it.

Both nail and finger went up the hooter,

but only his finger came out.

Rhys reckons that bit of toenail is still up there. Ouch!

It's just a silly thing that's happened,

but I'm going to get laughed at at school tomorrow.

Well, don't be hard on yourself, there's a first time for everything.

I got my fingernail stuck in my eye once.

-Right, so not the first time then. What is this, a hobby?

-Top that.

Enter Dr Colin Campbell. Let's hope he's up to the challenge.

So what brought you into hospital today?

I was picking my toenail, and I went to scratch my nose,

not realising the nail was still on my finger.

-And it went up my nose and I sniffed it up.

-OK.

He looks as bemused as me.

I don't get told that very often.

-Very embarrassing.

-Which side of your nose has it gone up?

It's gone right up.

First, Dr Colin tries to see if he can spot the chewed off nail.

It must be a pretty sight up there. Hope you're enjoying the view.

I can't see the nail.

So what I want you to do is just block that right nostril

and as hard as you can, just blow out of your left one.

This is the important bit.

When you breathe back in again,

don't breathe in through your nose, breathe back into your mouth.

So going to do something like this, OK?

Off you go then.

Keep going.

-Blow as hard as you can.

-We could be here a while.

As you saw when we were sneezing, your nose and mouth are connected.

It is a maze of passages and cavities, linking

your nostrils to each other and your ears to your nose and throat.

That's why when you're sick,

sometimes a bit comes out of your nose.

Gross.

Meanwhile, back with Rhys, there's still no sign of that nail.

As hard as you can. That's it. Keep going.

I never thought I'd be doing this when I came to work this morning.

Surely it must be out by now. You'd have thought so.

-Hang fire, we might have success.

-It's gone.

-You sure?

-It's made a runner.

-Yes, the nail has been nailed.

Let's get another look up there just to be sure.

-I can't see anything in his nose. Can you feel anything?

-No, I can't.

Sometimes if you've scratched your nose on the inside you can get

a sensation that feels like there is something actually inside your nose.

-You've not got that sensation now?

-No, no, it's gone.

There you have it.

As for the whereabouts of the missing toenail, nobody knows.

I'm just happy that I can't feel it, and it should be gone.

The moral of the story is, don't pick your toenails

and don't put them up your nose!

Next time: there's a jaw that's been dislocated.

I let a bloodsucking leech feed on my arm.

And which of these two have the largest tonsils?

We'll find out after surgery. Join us for another Operation Ouch!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd