Thanks to the huge response to my posting (so big it outnumbered the out of
office chaff).
Consensus is that there is no danger except in specific hospital areas such
as ITUs, and there are recent BMJ and Lancet articles to support it.
Charlotte Boulnois went one stage further and reports the results of a
thorough lit search which came up with a single reported death attributable
to mobile phones. (Mind you, one preventable death is still a lot.)
Charlotte's message is included in full (below) with her permission because
it bounced when she tried to post it to lis-medical.
Thanks to everyone who responded. Sounds like our grumpy old hold on the
reins of power is faltering.
Tony
Tony McSeán
Director of Library Relations
Elsevier
+44 7795 960516
+44 1865 843630
-----Original Message-----
From: Charlotte Boulnois [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 14 July 2005 10:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Cell phone use in hospitals
Hi Tony
We've just revised our mobile phone policy. One of our clinical physics guys
went and did some proper evidence based research and found that there was
actually only one incidence of a death attributable to the adverse effect of
a mobile phone on medical equipment. The only journal article about it that
he could find had an incorrect reference to the case report but we
eventually tracked it down. Of course the BL's as well as Cambridge
University's copies of the item had gone walkies, so we eventually got it
from Australia.
Bostrom U.
Interference from mobile phones
IFMBE Newsletter
1991 Vol 10 Nov - no page numbers available
Subsequent to this our Division has issued a new mobile phone use policy
which I'm sure I can get my hands on if anyone is interested
Mind you the news hasn't filtered through to our punters who still go
outside in the rain to make/take a call and we're not about to tell them any
different as it lowers the annoyance factor
Hope this helps
Charlotte Boulnois
Library Services Manager
South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Division
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