3/10/07
Study finds cellphones safe for use in hospitals
WASHINGTON: Use of cellphones does not create any negative impact on hospital medical devices, a recent research study has found.
Researchers who participated in the study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, found that normal use of cellphones did not cause any noticeable interference with sensitive equipment used in patient care. The researchers used two cellphones, which had different technologies and different carriers, to test some 192 devices. Over a period of five months and after some 300 tests, the scientists reported they found there was no trouble with any of the equipment.
Cellphones have so far been banned items in many major hospital facilities for the fear that their use could intervene the functioning of monitoring equipment. However, Dr David Hayes, who led the scientists' team, says the study shows that such a ban is uncalled for. He says the hospitals banning use of cellphones should reconsider their decisions so that the inconvenience caused to the patients and their families can be avoided.
Two earlier studies, carried out in vitro (where the equipment was not connected to the patients) had also suggested the interference from cellphones was minimal.
The findings have been published in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
In a contrasting instance, the publication had another report which says that playing a portable CD player was found to lead to abnormal recording of electrocardiographic examinations on patients in a hospital setting. The recording became normal once the CD player was turned off.
There are also reports that anti-theft devices placed near the exit and entry points in supermarkets could cause adverse reactions in patients using implantable rhythm devices like pacemakers and defibrillators. In a case reported in Tennessee, a patient with a pacemaker started giving adverse reactions leading to his being taken to an emergency room for study. In another case, a patient, who had a defibrillator, underwent a similar reaction.
Dr J. Rod Gimbel of East Tennessee Heart Consultants, who has authored a report based on the study, said simply moving the person away from the anti-theft device may save his or her life. He advises stores employees to move patents collapsing near anti-theft devices away from such machines immediately. Prolonged exposure to such devices could lead to life-threatening situations, he added.
Copyright © 2007 Respective Author
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/38786.html
¶ 5:40 PM
WASHINGTON: Use of cellphones does not create any negative impact on hospital medical devices, a recent research study has found.
Researchers who participated in the study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, found that normal use of cellphones did not cause any noticeable interference with sensitive equipment used in patient care. The researchers used two cellphones, which had different technologies and different carriers, to test some 192 devices. Over a period of five months and after some 300 tests, the scientists reported they found there was no trouble with any of the equipment.
Cellphones have so far been banned items in many major hospital facilities for the fear that their use could intervene the functioning of monitoring equipment. However, Dr David Hayes, who led the scientists' team, says the study shows that such a ban is uncalled for. He says the hospitals banning use of cellphones should reconsider their decisions so that the inconvenience caused to the patients and their families can be avoided.
Two earlier studies, carried out in vitro (where the equipment was not connected to the patients) had also suggested the interference from cellphones was minimal.
The findings have been published in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
In a contrasting instance, the publication had another report which says that playing a portable CD player was found to lead to abnormal recording of electrocardiographic examinations on patients in a hospital setting. The recording became normal once the CD player was turned off.
There are also reports that anti-theft devices placed near the exit and entry points in supermarkets could cause adverse reactions in patients using implantable rhythm devices like pacemakers and defibrillators. In a case reported in Tennessee, a patient with a pacemaker started giving adverse reactions leading to his being taken to an emergency room for study. In another case, a patient, who had a defibrillator, underwent a similar reaction.
Dr J. Rod Gimbel of East Tennessee Heart Consultants, who has authored a report based on the study, said simply moving the person away from the anti-theft device may save his or her life. He advises stores employees to move patents collapsing near anti-theft devices away from such machines immediately. Prolonged exposure to such devices could lead to life-threatening situations, he added.
Copyright © 2007 Respective Author
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/38786.html
¶ 5:40 PM
