Moderator: Kiran, if you can object to my message, then why is this message not objected to? Surely, you need to be fair with all members. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vikas Kapoor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Access India" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 4:51 PM Subject: [AI] Cell phone calls have no negative impact on hospital devices
> Cell phone calls have no negative impact on hospital devices > > New York, March 11. (PTI): Calls made on cell phones have no negative > impact on hospital medical devices, a study has said, dispelling the > long-held notion > that they are unsafe to use in health care facilities. > > But other devices like CD players and anti-theft devices fitted in stores > could interfere in the functioning of the medical devices. > > In a study published in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, > researchers say normal use of cell phones results in no noticeable > interference with > patient care equipment. > > Three hundred tests were performed over a five-month period in 2006, > without a single problem incurred, they add. > > Involved in the study were two cellular phones, which used different > technologies from different carriers and 192 medical devices. Tests were > performed > at Mayo Clinic campus in Rochester. > > The study's authors say the findings should prompt hospitals to alter or > abandon their bans on cell phone use. Mayo Clinic leaders are reviewing > the facility's > cell phone ban because of the study's findings, says David Hayes of the > Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and a study author. > > Cell phone bans inconvenience patients and their families who must exit > hospitals to place calls, the study's authors say. > > The latest study revisits two earlier studies that were done 'in vitro' > (that is the equipment wasn't connected to the patients), which also found > minimal > interaction from cell phones used in health care facilities. > > Hayes says, the latest study bolsters the notion that cells phones are > safe to use in hospitals. > > Two other pieces in the March issue of the journal also address whether > technological devices interfere with patient care equipment. > > Unlike the cellular phone study, the other reports detail technological > devices that caused patient care equipment to malfunction. > > A letter to the editor published in the journal details the first known > case of a portable CD player causing an abnormal electrocardiographic > (ECG) recording > within a hospital setting. The recording returned to normal when the CD > player, which the patient was holding close to the ECG lead, was turned > off. > > Technology also can threaten implantable rhythm devices such as pacemakers > and defibrillators outside the hospital setting, the journal said. > > The report outlines two cases of retail stores' anti-theft devices causing > people's heart devices to malfunction. > > The anti-theft devices are commonly placed near store exits and entrances, > triggering an alarm if customers leave with merchandise that was not > purchased. > In two instances in Tennessee, customers with a pacemaker and an > implantable cardiac defibrillator experienced adverse reactions after > nearing anti-theft > devices. > > The devices triggered the adverse reactions, sending both patients to > emergency rooms for evaluation. The report's authors recommend that the > anti-theft > devices be placed in areas of stores where customers won't linger -- away > from vending machines or displays of sale merchandise, for instance -- to > help > avoid future episodes. > > Store employees also should be trained to move a customer who has > collapsed near an anti-theft device when medically advisable, says J Rod > Gimbel, MD, of > East Tennessee Heart Consultants, and an author of the report. If they > aren't moved, they could experience recurring life-threatening malfunction > to their > implantable device, as did one patient who was described in the report. > > "Simply moving the person away from the anti-theft device may save their > life," Gimbel says. > > Though Gimbel's report outlines only two cases of anti-theft devices > causing implantable heart devices to malfunction, he asserts that similar > instances > are likely underreported, qualifying the problem as a potentially > widespread public safety issue. > > "Many times with public safety issues we wait until something bad occurs > before we act," Gimbel says. "Here's an opportunity where we can make our > knowledge > public and head off future problems." > > In an accompanying editorial, John Abenstein, of Mayo Clinic's Department > of Anesthesiology, addresses the journal reports relating to the impact of > technological > devices on patient care equipment. > > Abenstein says, the risk of some technological devices upsetting the > function of patient care equipment in hospitals appears to be small. The > Food and Drug > Administration (FDA) should take a more explicit stand on the matter, he > says, so that health care facility policies can be altered when > appropriate. > > http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200703110310.htm > > Vikas Kapoor, > MSN ID: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo ID: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Skype ID: dl_vikas > Mobile: (+91) 9891098137. > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
