0:00:00 > 0:00:03Hello, and welcome to Bang. We bring you the science behind the headlines
0:00:03 > 0:00:06and look at the issues that have real impact on our lives.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Reports of health and safety gone mad
0:00:11 > 0:00:15make the news over and over again.
0:00:15 > 0:00:16But are we overreacting,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20or is the world a more dangerous place?
0:00:20 > 0:00:23I read statistics saying it is safer today than it was when I was a kid.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25It doesn't feel like it.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27When I was a kid, you didn't have to wear seat belts.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29It's a bit different from when I was younger.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31I think you have to be a bit more vigilant.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34But also you can't bubble-wrap your kids either.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38But no matter what we do, accidents will happen
0:00:38 > 0:00:41at home, at work and at play.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45So tonight we are looking at safety.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47I'll be looking at pedestrians
0:00:47 > 0:00:51and why our brains put the old and the young more at risk.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Some of the children needed a speed difference of 20mph
0:00:55 > 0:00:58to notice one car's going faster than the other.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Jem plays crash-test dummy in a quest to find out
0:01:01 > 0:01:05which is the safest way to face in a collision.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06I'm heading for a solid steel bar.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08How bad can it be?
0:01:08 > 0:01:12Here we go! Three, two, one.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17And I investigate a new dressing
0:01:17 > 0:01:20that could drastically reduce scarring from burns.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25It's so clever and so simple in one aspect of it,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29it almost makes you wonder why nobody thought of it before.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33That's tonight on Bang Goes The Theory.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37First up tonight, we're looking at sudden cardiac arrest.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Now, a year ago, 23-year-old footballer Fabrice Muamba
0:01:40 > 0:01:42collapsed out of the blue on the pitch,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44and it's a story that dominated the headlines.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47We tend to associate heart attacks with older people
0:01:47 > 0:01:48or those with health issues,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52so why on earth did this happen to a young fit sportsman?
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Maggie investigates.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58Since Muamba's collapse last year,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01more high-profile cases have hit the news,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and, sadly, reports show that sudden cardiac death
0:02:04 > 0:02:08claims the lives of around 12 young people in the UK every week.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14At just 14, Isaac Fowler was one of them.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20He loved sport any sport, really.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24He was very laid-back and very... a very nice teenager to have around.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26So just tell us, you know, exactly what happened.
0:02:28 > 0:02:29It was a Saturday,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33and we'd been down to Isaac's cousin's for the afternoon,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35and he'd been playing basketball with him.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38And we came home, I went upstairs,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and as I approached his room, he's...
0:02:40 > 0:02:43I could see that he was laying on the floor.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46I suddenly realised that there was something just horribly wrong,
0:02:46 > 0:02:48that, you know, he wasn't conscious.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52He was taken to hospital and they...
0:02:52 > 0:02:54and, you know, he died at the hospital.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59He'd not shown any sign of any illness, really.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01He'd been perfectly fit and healthy.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06So what made Isaac's heart stop?
0:03:09 > 0:03:11There can be many causes,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14but cardiologists first look at two things
0:03:14 > 0:03:16electrical activity and structure.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21At Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, Professor Hugh Watkins
0:03:21 > 0:03:24is using ultrasound to look at the structure of my heart.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27There is something extraordinary
0:03:27 > 0:03:29about looking at your own heart on one of these,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32cos this...isn't something I've ever done before.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35So what do you look for now? What's the first thing that you would check?
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Well, when we're talking about assessing
0:03:39 > 0:03:42whether somebody is at risk of sudden cardiac death,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44the common condition is called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45- and it causes thickening of the heart muscle.- Yeah.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50And the place we most typically see that is in the wall here,
0:03:50 > 0:03:55the septum between the left and the right chambers of the heart.
0:03:53 > 0:03:54And how thick is mine?
0:03:56 > 0:04:01Our measurement comes out...8.5mm. That's very normal.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Up to 10 or 11, or even perhaps 12, would be normal.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Some patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
0:04:07 > 0:04:11will have 20 or 25, or even 30mm,
0:04:11 > 0:04:13so their septum would be very, very thick,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15very, very obvious.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18But not all cases are so clear-cut.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Fabrice Muamba's heart had some thickening,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24but doctors couldn't tell if it was a sign of disease,
0:04:24 > 0:04:29because the hearts of elite sportsmen are often thicker than average.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31And while muscle thickening is the cause
0:04:31 > 0:04:34in around 50% of sudden cardiac deaths,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36it's not the only one.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Next, Hugh checks my heart's electrical activity.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44So, Maggie, we're going to record an ECG.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Right, so what does it look like?
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- Well, you'll be pleased to know it looks completely normal.- Good.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53What we've got here is recordings of a series of heartbeats,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57so this would be a single heartbeat here.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59It starts with this little blip here,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02which is the electricity that comes from the heart's own pacemaker,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06called the sinoatrial node at the top of the heart.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08That electricity then spreads through the heart,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10and you get this spike there,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and that causes the heart muscle to contract, pump out the blood,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15and that's the heartbeat that you feel.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19And then there's a period where the electricity resets back to normal
0:05:19 > 0:05:23so about a second later the whole thing can start off again.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24If there were a problem, what would it look like?
0:05:26 > 0:05:28I've got an example here
0:05:28 > 0:05:30that illustrates one of the important ones.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32The resetting period
0:05:32 > 0:05:35is about double the length of time that it was in your heart.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37So a cardiologist could look at this
0:05:37 > 0:05:41and could make a diagnosis of a condition called long QT syndrome.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Symptoms of long QT
0:05:41 > 0:05:45can include palpitations and blackouts during exercise,
0:05:45 > 0:05:50but some people, like Isaac, die without warning.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54A postmortem DNA test revealed he had long QT.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58The disorder is caused by a faulty gene
0:05:58 > 0:06:01which is passed down through the generations, it's inherited,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05which then leaves a painful question for the rest of the family.
0:06:05 > 0:06:06Who else is at risk?
0:06:07 > 0:06:10When Hugh looked at Isaac's DNA,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13he spotted a single mutation in the genetic code.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15But once he'd found it,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Hugh could look for the same error in the rest of the family.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23We then tested Isaac's mum,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26and she has the gene.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28So there may be others at risk.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33So Isaac's mum has a brother, who we'll put over here.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36And he's got three kids around the same age of Isaac,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39so obviously, instantly there are concerns.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45But it turned out that, actually, the gene change that Isaac has
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and Isaac's mum has wasn't present in the uncle.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49And that's a very clear result.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52He's at no more risk of long QT than you or I.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56We don't need to test his kids, they're all in the clear.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Isaac's mum now knows that she has long QT,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01so she can control the condition with medication.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Sudden cardiac death in the young is not common,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07but if your family has a history of it,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11or if you're experiencing blackouts during exercise,
0:07:11 > 0:07:12please contact your GP.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Heart screening isn't widely available,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17but the charity Cardiac Risk In The Young
0:07:17 > 0:07:22does run clinics for 14 to 35-year-olds around the country.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28I brought Hani along today because Hani's extremely active,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and she had two moments of fainting.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Well, I came here today cos I was sort of
0:07:33 > 0:07:36experiencing palpitations over the last few weeks.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38I want to make sure that I'm fit and safe
0:07:38 > 0:07:41for when I'm competing in sport in the future.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Of the young people you pick up who've got a problem,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46how many of them will go on to have a sudden cardiac arrest?
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Well, we expect that one in 300 people
0:07:50 > 0:07:53would have an undiagnosed heart condition,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55a potentially life-threatening illness.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58And the vast majority of those cases
0:07:58 > 0:08:00will not go on to have a sudden cardiac death,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03but they need to know that they have this condition
0:08:03 > 0:08:06so that they can take up various lifestyle modifications
0:08:06 > 0:08:09and avoid certain high strenuous activity.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Now, how accurate are they?
0:08:12 > 0:08:17Well, nothing is 100% accurate, but with these simple procedures,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20we can pick up the vast majority of cases.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Thank you very much, let's have a look at your results.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Thankfully, most of the people screened here today showed no signs,
0:08:25 > 0:08:30but, sadly, even screens like this are no guarantee,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and cases like Muamba will always slip through the net.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38There's more information on our website, bbc.co.uk/bang.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45# But you can tell by the way I cross the road
0:08:45 > 0:08:47# That I've learnt all my Green Cross Code... #
0:08:47 > 0:08:51While awareness of sudden cardiac arrest is relatively new,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55road-safety campaigns like this one have been around for decades.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57Last month, the Government announced
0:08:57 > 0:09:00road-safety films would no longer be shown.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06But that's not because our roads are now safe.
0:09:09 > 0:09:10In fact, figures released last year
0:09:10 > 0:09:13reveal that the death toll on Britain's roads
0:09:13 > 0:09:16rose for the first time in a decade,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19with the biggest increase amongst pedestrians.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Crossing the road is something us adults do almost without thinking
0:09:27 > 0:09:29but it actually requires
0:09:29 > 0:09:31quite a complex set of neurological processes,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33and it can be quite risky.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35I've got to find a safe place to cross,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39spot if anything is coming my way, if it is, at what speed,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and then decide if I've got enough time to cross the road.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44All within a handful of seconds.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I'm meeting psychologist John Wann
0:09:48 > 0:09:53to find out how our brains judge the speed of an approaching car.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54If you have a vehicle that's a long way away from you,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58- then its optical size is quite small. - Yeah.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01As it gets closer, that optical size increases,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04and that's change in size is what we call looming.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08So is this what essentially we're relying on
0:10:08 > 0:10:10to be able to cross the road safely?
0:10:08 > 0:10:11It's one of the most important forms of information
0:10:11 > 0:10:13to judge about anything coming towards you quite quickly.
0:10:17 > 0:10:18It seems that judging looming
0:10:18 > 0:10:22is particularly hard for two groups of people,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24the over-75s and children.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28WHISTLE BLOWS
0:10:29 > 0:10:36To demonstrate this in kids, John has set up a test at a local school.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38OK, let's go to the school hall!
0:10:38 > 0:10:43But first, he's going to show me how my adult brain performs.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45You're going to see one vehicle and then another,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48and I just want you to tell me which one you think is going faster.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51OK.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53So was the first one or the second one quicker?
0:10:54 > 0:10:56The first one.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58The speed differences are going to get smaller and smaller
0:10:58 > 0:11:00until we find out what you can just manage to judge.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05What's my absolute limit in discerning the different speeds.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Your threshold at discriminating speed.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Second one...
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Oh, I don't know, I don't know, I'm guessing that one.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24Oh, that's tricky!
0:11:26 > 0:11:28So what does that mean?
0:11:26 > 0:11:31You could tell a vehicle was going faster than say 36 versus 30.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35A difference of 6mph that's not too shabby, is it?
0:11:34 > 0:11:40No, and on average we find adults can tell between, say, 30 and 40mph,
0:11:40 > 0:11:41but not 30 and 35.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45I'm above average, just say it I'm above average.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Yeah, so you're certainly above average.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51So how will the children do?
0:11:56 > 0:11:58- Which one was that?- Number two.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04OK, so how did they do in this test?
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Well, some of the children needed a speed difference of 20mph
0:12:06 > 0:12:08to notice one car's going faster than the other.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12OK, and that can literally be a matter of life and death
0:12:12 > 0:12:13when you're crossing the road.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Well, yes, it means if they fail to notice,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- that's going to cut down their crossing time immensely.- Mm-hm.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26Children can't differentiate between 20 and 40mph.
0:12:28 > 0:12:29It is thought that this is because
0:12:29 > 0:12:34sophisticated neural pathways in the brain are not fully developed yet.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39It's also thought that the elderly have problems judging looming
0:12:39 > 0:12:42because neural degeneration is taking place.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47All this proves that crossing the road safely
0:12:47 > 0:12:49is not just down to experience.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53To show what this means in the real world,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57John takes me out to a test track for a sobering illustration.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- OK, Liz, so we've marked out the width of a road across here.- Yeah.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04And we've got a length down there of 45 metres,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07and we're going to get a car to approach us at 20mph.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10And what I'd like you to do is to time it.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16And it is snowing, so it couldn't be more real of a situation!
0:13:16 > 0:13:17With added hazards.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18- But OK, let's have a go and see what happens.- Right.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20OK, we're ready for you, Ed.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33OK, so that's 5.38 seconds.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34OK, well, we know that that's the sort of time
0:13:34 > 0:13:37that would allow a child to cross a road of this width.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Yeah, they do have time to cross the road,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43so that's pretty straightforward.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43What I'd like to show you now
0:13:43 > 0:13:45is what the effect is if the car's going faster,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48so what we'd like you to do this time is you take the wheel,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50and we're going to approach at 40mph.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56To a child, this car looks like it's only travelling as fast
0:13:56 > 0:14:00as the one we've just seen going at 20mph.
0:14:00 > 0:14:01Right, hit 40 now.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03And I'm starting the watch. One, two...
0:14:05 > 0:14:06Just over two seconds.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11To do the same distance, but this time at 40mph,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14instead of 20, that's a huge difference,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18and it means a child can't get across the road in that time.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23And remember, the elderly may have the same problem.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29What's become clear from John's research
0:14:29 > 0:14:31is that crossing the road for children
0:14:31 > 0:14:34is a very different process than it is for adults.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Now, obviously, it's still essential to teach them about road safety,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39but the point here is
0:14:39 > 0:14:42that children are developmentally and experientially unable
0:14:42 > 0:14:46to assess looming and different car speeds efficiently.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49And so it's absolutely vital that we lower our speeds
0:14:49 > 0:14:51if we want to keep them safe.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Still to come tonight, Liz looks at a new way
0:14:58 > 0:15:03to help recovery from one of the most common domestic accidents burns.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07But first, protecting our families in car accidents.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17In the UK, over 400 child passengers
0:15:17 > 0:15:21are killed or seriously injured each year.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Apart from driving more carefully,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27one of the few things we can practically do something about
0:15:27 > 0:15:30is our children's car seats.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Buying a car seat
0:15:33 > 0:15:36was probably the most important decision that we made, really,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38when we were buying all our new baby equipment.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41When my three children were younger,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44they all romped around freely in the back of the car.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47We just opened the door, shovelled them all in,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50and they climbed all over the car I mean, it sounds horrendous now.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54In the UK, it is mandatory for babies up to about the age of nine months
0:15:54 > 0:15:57to face backwards whilst travelling.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01But in Sweden, which has one of the best road safety records in Europe,
0:16:01 > 0:16:06children face backwards in a car for the first four or five years.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09Europe is currently reviewing
0:16:09 > 0:16:12whether we should take a leaf out of the Swedes' book
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and insist that children face backwards until they're older.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19But how much difference does travelling backwards
0:16:19 > 0:16:21actually make to our safety?
0:16:27 > 0:16:30It was the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s
0:16:30 > 0:16:33that gave the Swedes their inspiration.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40NASA scientists knew that by placing their astronauts flat on their backs
0:16:40 > 0:16:44it would lessen the effects of the significant acceleration forces
0:16:44 > 0:16:47they felt as they blasted into space.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49This inspired Swedish car designers
0:16:49 > 0:16:54to think about seating children in a less conventional way, too.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57So what kind of forces do we experience in a car crash?
0:16:57 > 0:17:00And does the way we're facing make any difference,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02as they seem to think in Sweden?
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Well, to find out, I'm going to become a crash-test dummy.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11I'm building myself a kind of go-kart to be projected by compressed air
0:17:11 > 0:17:13at precise speeds along a test track.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20At the end of the track...is this.
0:17:23 > 0:17:24A pretty solid lamppost.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29Now, the only thing that's going to make the impact here kind of bearable
0:17:29 > 0:17:30is this crumple zone.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32The idea of a crumple zone on this kart,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35or in fact on any vehicle, is to kind of bend,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39and the bending metal absorbs some of the energy of the impact.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Nonetheless, it's not going to be a wholly pleasant experience
0:17:47 > 0:17:49for the fella in the hot seat.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52I've kind of calculated this
0:17:52 > 0:17:55so it should give a similar crash profile
0:17:55 > 0:17:59to maybe hitting a lamppost in a real car in an urban environment.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01I've carefully designed and built this rig
0:18:01 > 0:18:04to be repeatable and predictable.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Tests make me confident I'll walk away from this.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11What we don't know is exactly how my body will behave in the crash,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13so I'm going to gauge the effects
0:18:13 > 0:18:16using a high-speed camera and a big green pressure-sensing pad.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18I wouldn't recommend this.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Erm...
0:18:21 > 0:18:22I am a little nervous.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26I'm forward facing, and I'm heading for a solid steel bar.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28How bad can it be?
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Here we go! Three, two, one.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Yeah. It was definitely an impact.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50The crumple zone does its job, smoothing the intensity of the impact
0:18:50 > 0:18:53as I go from 16mph to zero in a tenth of a second.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55It still hurts.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57The harness holds my body nicely,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00but my head gets viciously thrown forwards.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05But how will the reverse feel?
0:19:05 > 0:19:07I don't think that a helmet would be helpful here,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11so I'm relying on the padding of the headrests to cushion the blow.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14I can see why kids hate being put in their car seats so much.
0:19:16 > 0:19:17Let's do it!
0:19:25 > 0:19:27That was like a proper shock but...
0:19:29 > 0:19:31..I feel OK.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Going backwards felt better,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36but what will the cameras and pressure sensor reveal?
0:19:38 > 0:19:41White and blue areas correspond to little or no pressure.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Red areas are the highest pressure we're seeing.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47OK, and this is then quite obviously when I was going forwards,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and you can see the straps are digging into my shoulders
0:19:50 > 0:19:53- and digging in quite a lot around my waist.- Correct.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Whereas going backwards, the whole force of the impact
0:19:57 > 0:20:00is distributed quite evenly over most of my back.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Which is why there's less digging into me.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05There's a little bit down at the bottom there,
0:20:05 > 0:20:07but on the whole, even though quite scary,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11going backwards is broadly a more comfortable way to crash.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15During forward-facing collisions,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18it's very common for seat belts to cause abdominal injuries.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22But the more serious threat for children is to their necks,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26and to see why that is, I need to look at the high-speed footage.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29OK, there's the moment of impact.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Ooh!
0:20:32 > 0:20:35There's an awful lot of movement in my head.
0:20:35 > 0:20:36My head only comes to a stop
0:20:36 > 0:20:40when eventually my neck won't stretch any further.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Right, let's see what it's like going backwards.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Ohhh!
0:20:49 > 0:20:54Right, well, going backwards, the kind of overall movements
0:20:54 > 0:20:56I experienced meant that my neck
0:20:56 > 0:20:59never sort of went out of its comfort zone.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02It was only moving within its normal range.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Whereas forward-facing, it was a different story.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11And it makes me think that, overall, from the pressure results,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13from the high speed and from my own experience,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17that travelling backwards in a crash is probably safer.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Now, if you're a parent watching that, you might quite understandably
0:21:23 > 0:21:27be feeling a bit concerned, but just some words of reassurance.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32Forward-facing car seats are safe. They've been rigorously tested.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36But if in the future, UK or European guidelines change
0:21:36 > 0:21:41and the age limit for rear-facing seats is raised, you'll know why.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Next up, one of the biggest causes of serious burns in children
0:21:43 > 0:21:45can be from a simple cup of tea.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50180 kids are taken to hospital every single day with scalds from
0:21:50 > 0:21:53hot drinks and they can be potentially fatal.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Some of you might find these images a little bit upsetting.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05The first thing to remember is how easily heat can damage human skin.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08And here's a demo to give you an idea.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15OK, so the water is now at 80 degrees centigrade -
0:22:15 > 0:22:17the temperature of a just-made cup of tea.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22Now, obviously our skin is very different to that of a tomato's,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26but just watch what happens when I place it...
0:22:26 > 0:22:28into the water...for a moment.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Our skin is made up of several layers,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38equating to a thickness of about 4mm.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42A tomato has just one, but will react in a similar way.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43Can you see that?
0:22:43 > 0:22:45All the skin has been cooked
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and peeled back to reveal the flesh below.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53These cells are basically now dead and in humans that's called necrosis.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57It just goes to show how delicate and how vulnerable our skin is.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Seven-year-old Shay was scalded two weeks ago.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07So, Helen, what happened on that day?
0:23:09 > 0:23:10I was cooking potatoes,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13didn't realise Shay was stood next to me, so as I picked up
0:23:13 > 0:23:16the pan, turned left, I splashed water on his face and chest.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Must have been quite scary for you, Shay.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21- Yeah, he was screaming. It was really frightening.- You poor thing.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26'Shea here was lucky. In just a few days he's already healing well.'
0:23:29 > 0:23:30You can see how it's gone from here,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34where all the skin's coming off a bit, to where it is now.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38And that's healed now, Mum, so that's really good.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40'Even relatively low temperatures can be damaging.'
0:23:42 > 0:23:43A cup of tea left for ten minutes
0:23:43 > 0:23:47can still burn a child's skin in one and a half seconds.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49- Oh!- And this is our typical cup of tea scald that we see every day.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51That is horrific!
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Because children's skin is thinner, you get injuries like this.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Serious problems can arise during the healing process.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04Bacterial infection is a major concern for young burns victims.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08One of the infections we see is called toxic shock syndrome,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and that's due to the toxin released by a common bacteria -
0:24:11 > 0:24:15a bacteria that's on your skin, my skin - called staphylococcus aureus.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Children below the age of four are not able to fight the toxin
0:24:18 > 0:24:24and they get an overwhelming multi-organ failure if not treated.
0:24:24 > 0:24:25And potentially death.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26It's already really difficult to look at this,
0:24:26 > 0:24:31but to think there's also the risk of actual death...that's horrific.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35You may say, "Why don't we give these children antibiotics?"
0:24:35 > 0:24:36That doesn't help.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40It's a toxin-related disease, so giving antibiotics won't treat this.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42You need to give antitoxin
0:24:42 > 0:24:44and that's what these children are lacking.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46They're lacking the antitoxin.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49So a common scenario is the child comes back two or three days
0:24:49 > 0:24:50later with a temperature.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54We don't know whether that child has a cough or a cold or has
0:24:54 > 0:24:56a potentially lethal infection under our dressing.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59So we have this conundrum - do we leave the dressing on,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02which will give the best healing for the child?
0:25:02 > 0:25:06Or do we take off the dressing and risk the child scarring?
0:25:06 > 0:25:09And scarring is lifelong. Although there are some treatments,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13this is going to affect this child for the rest of their life.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16That's just terrible to see on such a young...little being.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20So we need to know when there's an infection underneath.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22We want the ideal dressing of the future.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24And that's just what scientists
0:25:24 > 0:25:27at Bath University are trying to develop.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34At a simple level it could be argued that some toxic bacteria
0:25:34 > 0:25:38produce toxins which actually destroy healthy tissue.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41And it's this effect we thought we could maybe
0:25:41 > 0:25:44exploit in our early-warning detection system in our dressing.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Toby demonstrates how this bandage works using the closest thing
0:25:46 > 0:25:49we've got to human skin - pig skin bought from the butcher's.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53All right, so what happens next?
0:25:54 > 0:25:59OK, we're going to infect our skin with two strains of bacteria.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04One is a harmless strain of bacteria,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07and here, this is a toxic strain of bacteria.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- This is an MRSA strain. - OK, we're all familiar with that one!
0:26:10 > 0:26:13- Yeah.- That causes some serious infection.- Yeah.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17I'm going to take our prototype dressings that you see here,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20and I'm going to place these onto our infected skin.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21So how long do we have to wait until we see a result?
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Really within minutes we should be seeing a response.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28'The dressing is made from minuscule hollow nanocapsules
0:26:28 > 0:26:30'filled with a fluorescent dye
0:26:30 > 0:26:33'so we can see what happens under UV light.'
0:26:40 > 0:26:44Oh, wow, look at that! It couldn't be clearer, could it?
0:26:45 > 0:26:47There you see toxic bacteria.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51It's caused our dressing to fluoresce and green that.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51Yeah, and this one is absolutely fine.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55So this is indicating toxic bacteria, infection present.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58'And it's this signal that would alert doctors to change
0:26:58 > 0:27:01'the bandage and treat the infection.'
0:27:02 > 0:27:06So what exactly is happening to make your bandage fluoresce?
0:27:08 > 0:27:10OK, the MRSA strain here,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14in common with many other toxic staphylococcus aureus strains,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18is producing toxins, and this comes along to our nanocapsules
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and drills holes through the membrane.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23And that allows a dye to come out.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Fantastic. It's so clever and so simple in one aspect of it.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29It almost makes you wonder why nobody thought of it before.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33'For now the bandage is still being trialled
0:27:33 > 0:27:37but, with a system like this, unnecessary bandage changing
0:27:37 > 0:27:39and potential scarring for children
0:27:39 > 0:27:42and adults could become a thing of the past.'
0:27:44 > 0:27:46- Thank you very much.- Bye.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Nice to end on a positive story. That's it for tonight. Keep safe.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04Visit our website at:
0:28:04 > 0:28:06to watch Jem's film about air bags.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10And for information about young people's safety on the internet,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13follow the links to the Open University.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15We'll be back after Easter.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd