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Do Cell phones realy fuck with medical equipment?


Buck531

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Do cell phones realy fuck with equipment? The reason I ask is that I was in the doctors office today (ear nose and throat guy) and a few cell phones went off with some retarded ass ringers. Anyways, the lady told us in the waiting room to turn off the cell phones. Well I didn't and I was right in front of the window and I was playing Poker on my phone. Then she turns the "bitch mode on" and yells at me to turn it off because it messes with the audiology equipment (I think that's what she said.. the hearing stuff?

 

Not a big deal so I turned it off, but I also told the lady that I"m on call for work and might miss a call. Then she says "well then we'll have to re-schedule your appointment".

 

Ugh.. So is it true about phones/pagers messing up equipment?

 

oh btw, my ear nose and throat dude said that my CT scan was one of the worst that he's seen. Probably in the top 10% of bad sinus problems (deviated septum, etc. ). woot. Surgery is set for the 3rd.

 

(waiting for Kirk to chime in :))

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time to quit smoking?

 

What? A deviated septum has NOTHING to do with smoking. Period. It's either caused by trama to the nose (I haven't had) or it's genetic. I even asked the doc if it was caused by smoking and he said no.

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I would say maybe when Cell phones first came out, yes. thats when the standard was set. Same with airplanes. but with current phones, doubtful but who knows and there is no way a hospital or equipment manufactor is going to test all the diffect phones that are out there. Its just easier to say they can affect the equipment.
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Theres almost no possible way a cell phone could cause a problem with medical equipment. The FCC sticker on all electronic devices says they can't interfere with other devices. It also says devices must except interference, but who knows what thats about.

 

I'm in OSU hospital and clinics 50% of my work time and I've got 2 cell phones on me and I'm talking on one or the other constantly. I also see doctors on them all over the hospitals as well. I'm even in SICU areas repairing machines right next to all sorts of life saving electronics and I've never noticed a pattern of equipment going crazy when I'm there.

 

Oh one other note. If cell phones could interfere then all the motorola pagers that every nurses station has would also cause a problem. Not because they are emitting signal, but because towers are passing signal to them. Not to mention all the signals that are passing through the buildings 24/7 anyway from towers of all types all across the city/country/space.

 

Bottom line, I bet they don't want 50 million people walking through the halls on cell phones or sitting in waiting rooms all over the place yelling into the damn things. You know the type of people I'm talking about and would you want to to sit in a room with them while your loved one is being worked on and your already stressed?

 

Evan

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my iPhone makes unshielded speakers make funny noises when my phone rings and it within about 2 feet of them.

 

Every verizon phone I have had does that. Makes static noises when I get a text message too.

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What about in a doctors office with some special devices? I dunno. Like the sign said the "audiology equipment".

 

I think the lady was just pissed that there were like 3 phones that ran REALLY loud and had annoying ass ring tones all within 5 minutes of each other.

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I think it's an AT&T/Cingular thing. Noticed it years back when I changed from Sprint.

 

I can't have my Blackberry within 5' of a speaker of any kind. Even still if it's in our kitchen, I can hear a funny sound through the surround system when an email, SMS or call is about to come in.

 

I hate to think of what it's doing to me when I put it between my legs when driving. :eek:

 

my iPhone makes unshielded speakers make funny noises when my phone rings and it within about 2 feet of them.
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I would say with 99% certainty that my phone would fuck with that equipment big time.

 

What about in a doctors office with some special devices? I dunno. Like the sign said the "audiology equipment".

 

I think the lady was just pissed that there were like 3 phones that ran REALLY loud and had annoying ass ring tones all within 5 minutes of each other.

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Didn't Mythbusters do a show on cell phone interference on planes? I'd imagine it's along the same lines with medical equipment.

 

On airplanes and medical equipment the electronics are shielded to block interference. The main reason the FCC doesn't want you to use a cell phone on an airplane is to prevent a potential system overload on cell towers. In an airplane you have the ability to connect to more towers than you would on the ground due to altitude and clear line of sight for the radio waves to travel.

 

My father, who is an optometrist, requires cell phones to be turned off because he can't stand when patients come back to the exam room and start gabbing on their cell phone. It's a waste of his time and puts him behind schedule.

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