14 DAY TRIAL // According to US researchers, mobile phones and calls made with them will not affect medical devices in hospitals, but store anti-theft alarms could make implanted heart devices misfire.
Tests conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota proved that the normal use of mobile phones caused no interference with patient care equipment, which is why mobile phone use in hospitals doesn't harm anyone, although the vast majority of hospitals forbid the use of such devices.
The researchers believe that the ban is unmerited. They tested the phones using two different technologies from different wireless carriers, switching them on nearly 192 different medical devices. With the recent discovery, maybe one day cell phones won't be banned anymore.
Although annoying and distracting for some, since it has been proved that they won't affect any medical devices in any way, the ban can now be considered unreasonable. Other devices, such as the anti-theft alarms in shops, do in fact cause malfunctions to implanted heart devices.
A patient that had a pacemaker collapsed after pausing in a store doorway, while another one had an implantable cardiac defibrillator that shocked him after he stood near an anti-theft unit. Store employees need to be aware of the situation so that they can do something about this as quickly as possible. "Simply moving the person away from the anti-theft device may save their life," Gimbel said in a statement.
While the presence of such devices can bring serious harm to someone, even though cell phones have proved to be safe in hospitals, it is also reasonable to say that it's better to be safe then sorry. This is one main reason for which even though mobile phones don't affect medical equipment, they might still remain banned from hospitals.