The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Phones May Not Hurt You, But Shopping Might Gordon Woolf

You won't be allowed to take or make a mobile phone call while in an operating theatre, but many hospitals worldwide may relax their rules on mobile phones and wireless devices such as Blackberry- coupled laptops and hand held units following the latest research published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings "Use of Cellular Telephones in the Hospital Environment"'

The tests, conducted in Rochester, Minnesota, USA, from February to June last year showed no cases of phones in normal usage, including Blackberry devices, interfering with medical equipment. Other studies have shown interference could occur if you place your phone within two inches of the data port on a ventilator, or have the phone within two inches of the machine when it rings.

Cell phones alter their power output based on the incoming signal. Where the incoming signal is weak, mobile phones transmit at a higher power, so the tests measured reception levels to take this into account.

The tests did not cover areas where patients would not be likely to take calls, such as operating suites, but I heard recently of a job seeker answering a mobile call while expecting those interviewing him to wait, so anything is possible. The urge to answer that ring is so strong that it might create an automatic response even in a coma, but that's my comment, not the clinic's.

The myth that mobile phones cause explosions at service stations was debunked long ago, and my guess would be that the ban might be justified by the trader not wanting someone occupying space by a petrol pump while they are neither filling the tank nor paying for the fuel. That interviewing panel mentioned above would be sympathetic.

Not a myth is the tale that heart pacemakers can be upset by those tag-checking security devices standing in the entrances of many stores. A case much reported in the USA was of an elderly woman who had been seated against the back of the electronic article surveillance (EAS) device. She passed out and needed to be revived several times before a staff member decided to move her away; she then recovered quickly.

EAS dangers are covered in a report, again from the Mayo Clinic2, which states that while there is general advice on the lines of "don't linger, don't lean", EAS systems may still be positioned near checkout counters and/ or near items for sale so people are tempted to do just that.
A 71-year-old man felt a little odd when he was at a checkout counter and was affected so much that he staggered away from the counter. From the details recorded in the defibrillator the man had in his chest, the hospital was able to check what happened and when. Luckily the man staggered just far enough to take him out of range of the tag-checking unit.

The report, by Drs Gimbel and Cox, states: "Architects and designers of retail space might avoid placing the checkout area (spaces where lingering is likely to occur) close to where EAS systems will be positioned..." and added that "items of interest should not be positioned in such a way as to encourage prolonged proximal exposure to an EAS system."

They were concerned that EAS systems may be "camouflaged" by advertising, rendering them invisible to the customer or, worse, drawing the customer with an implantable device toward them.

There seems to be no danger in just walking past such devices.

QUOTE:
     Mobile phones are the only subject on which men boast about who's got the smallest. 
     — Neil Kinnock

     The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.
     — Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876.
 

Reprinted from the April 2007 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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