Saturday 20 April 2013

More Mobile Madness?

Following my last blog about mobile phones (Phone-y Fears) I should add that I have worked in many physiotherapy departments and they have signs telling you to switch off your mobile phone.
Back in the early days of the mobile phone when making calls and storing addresses was all they could do, we were given a reason for this. We were told that our short-wave machines affected them - in particular, that the list of addresses could be affected. One physio was upgrading her phone and had no further use for it so she put it directly under the treatment head for a few minutes. Nothing happened!
There were other signs warning patients with pacemakers not to enter because of the same machines. I have to say that nobody that I know ever did a similar test on a patient with a pacemaker but somebody could try it on a pacemaker which is not attached to a patient. I get the impression that this sort of test would not be carried out because there may be someone who would take the hospital to court if anything ever did go wrong even if it were coincidence.
I appreciate that safety is important, but I also hope that all these warnings are based on rationality and evidence, and that we aren't jumping through hoops just because of a dubious legal climate and health and safety excesses.

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