Hospital mobile bans 'must stay'

So much for yesterday's news, claiming that cell phones were safe to use in hospitals.

Today the BBC reports that evidence that mobile phones can interfere with vital intensive care equipment has been strengthened.

More than half the hospital ventilators tested by Dutch researchers stopped working properly when a mobile was switched on nearby.

A total of 61 different medical devices were tested, and the majority could be affected by the presence of a mobile.

"3G" mobiles were less likely to cause problems compared with second generation mobiles, and while, on average, the mobile had to be only a few centimetres away to interfere with the device, one "hazardous" incident happened at a distance of three metres.

The researchers wrote: "The policy to keep mobile phones one metre from the critical care bedside seems warranted."

emily | 1:47 PM | Health Issues and SMS Alerts |
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