'Cellphones pose hospital risk'
2007-09-07 15:22
London - Using cellphones near
hospital beds or important equipment is dangerous and could
switch off ventilators or disrupt pacemakers, Dutch researchers
said on Thursday.
The University of Amsterdam researchers recorded nearly 50
incidents of electromagnetic interference from cell phone use in
hospitals and classified 75% of them as significant or
hazardous.
Because of this mobile phones should come no closer than one
metre to hospital beds and equipment, said the researchers who
published their study in BioMed Central's online open access
journal Critical Care.
"Critical care equipment is vulnerable to electromagnetic
interference by new-generation wireless telecommunication
technologies with median distances of about 3 centimetres," they
wrote.
Contradiction
The study contradicts a study earlier this year from
researchers at the Mayo Clinic who found that 300 tests over a
five-month period turned up no noticeable interference with
important hospital equipment due to regular mobile phone use.
The Dutch team - which tested 61 different medical devices
- found that most of the incidents stemmed from the latest
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) signal, a new-generation
technology that allows things such as wireless internet access.
Other malfunctions they attributed to electromagnetic
interference included complete stops with no alarms in syringe
pumps and incorrect pulsing by an external pacemaker.
- Reuters