On Tue, 14 Apr 1998 20:21:17 +0100, K M Chung <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>A friend of mine forwarded the following piece to me. I wonder if there
>are in fact any rules about the use of mobile phones near operating
>theatres, ICU, ITUs in UK?
>
>K M Chung
Our local teaching hospital bans them anywhere in the hospital, a rule
which is routinely flouted by visitors, consultants etc.
The Medical Devices Agency in the UK has produced a 100 page
assessment of the risks, which they will send free to any NHS staff
who request it (sadly they only do a dead tree version). They found
that mobile phones only caused interference to 4% of medical devices
at a range of 1 meter, with less than 0.1% showing serious effects. At
ranges greater than 1 meter the risk fell off sharply. They
recommended switching cell phones off in operating theatres and at
the bedside of patients connected to monitors, which seems more
sensible than a blanket ban. By contrast, the report found that the
radios used by the emergency services carried a high risk of
interference, presumably because they are higher power
David
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Dr David Evans
Cardiff
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