cell phone use in hospitals

The dr's, nurses, etc, use their cell phones up and down the halls
outside surgery, icu, etc, in the hospital near me.

---

› See More: cell phone use in hospitals

"J Oat" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:[email protected]...
> Lawrence,
> save your breaths, most people do not want to know. ignorant is bless
>=20
> btw i agree with your view. CDMA radiate the least and GSM the most =
at
> their peak output of 2W I think, even though the average power output =
is
> comparable to CDMA.

Doesn't CDMA use spread-spectrum technology which transmits on more than =
one frequency at a time? So would that, in itself, cause more =
interference?

Just because you can *hear* TDMA better over a speaker than CDMA doesn't =
necessarily mean that it causes *more* interference. The two modes are =
still radiating energy which are capable of causing interference to =
electronic equipment.

One possible reason why some hospitals allow cell phones while others =
don't could be because some hospitals could be using older equipment =
which may be more susceptible to RFI while other hospitals with newer =
equipment can handle it better due to its better electronics, design and =
shielding.

"Bill Roland" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:meMub.7594$zx.2721@lakeread03...
> I have 3 of those too, maybe I should haul one in and see what happens. No,
> I won't, but I bet it would wreak havoc on a lot of stuff around there. I
> do what the hospital politely asks, I turn my cell phone off at the door,
> but most people I know do not.

That policy, as others have said, varies from one hospital to the next. I
just had a friend die in a local hospital. His wife was at home at the time
and called me to take her to the hospital. I had my cell phone along, but
didn't need it after all. When we got to his hall, a nurse escorted us to his
room and said if there was anything we wanted to let them know, and then said,
by the way, here is a cell phone that you can use to call family and friends.
I said I thought you were not suppose to use cell phones in a hospital. Her
answer was - In some it is, but here you can use a cell phone anywhere unless
the door you are going through has a restriction notice on it, and we all have
cell phones furnished by the hospital for communications.

Tom J

Anyone know of any other places where you can't use cell phones, like =
missile silos or something?


"maryann" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:[email protected]...
> There was a thread here a few months ago about cell phone use in
> hospitals, with plenty of self righteous talk about the "dangers"=20
> to the patients.
>=20
> I spent all of today in John Muir Hospital waiting for the gf to come =
out=20
> of surgery, and noticed that each and every hospital employee appears =
to=20
> be equipped with a cell phone. Needless to say, they
> seem to think they won't kill the patients that way.

In alt.cellular John Eckart <[email protected]> wrote:
> The reason you get analog in the hospital and not digital is because analog
> runs in the megahertz band, and your particular cell provider runs its
> digital service in the gigahertz band. Megahertz is a lower frequency

to clarify, since this definition of GHz and MHz isn't *quite* correct,

1 Gigahertz = 1000 Megahertz.

There is no such thing as a Gigahertz or Megahertz "band" - they're units
of measure, like pounds or yards.

Analog runs at 800 Megahertz. Some digital phones run at 800 or 850, and
some (depending on how frequencies are allocated in the country where you
are located) run at 900. Others run at 1.8 GHz or 1.9 GHz (again, depending
on where you are; 1.9 is used in the US, 1.8 is used in Europe.)

However, 1.8 GHz and 1.9 GHz *can also be stated as 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz,
respectively.*

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In alt.cellular Richard Ness <[email protected]> wrote:
> Unless you are roaming, I seriously doubt this is the issue.
> VZW uses the 800Mhz 'band' for both digital and analog in the areas
> that they use 800Mhz, (the majority). There are a few exceptions, but
> they are only in the very few areas that VZW runs both.

Still, there are some decent-sized markets where 1900 MHz is used - not
necessarily overlaid over 800, either.

--SJ "I like nitpicking" S

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JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * [email protected]

In alt.cellular John Eckart <[email protected]> wrote:
> Anyone know of any other places where you can't use cell phones, like
> missile silos or something?

Blasting areas, where the crews typically use radio-controlled detonators.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * [email protected]

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 23:40:57 GMT, "John Eckart" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Anyone know of any other places where you can't use cell phones, like missile silos or something?

While driving down my driveway. Call drops every damn time.

"John Eckart" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
Anyone know of any other places where you can't use cell phones, like
missile silos or something?



Depends how sadistic a personal trainer is, (but they may be as bad as a
missle), but many health clubs don't allow them.

Do they blast with radios now?
It used to be that they merely laid out a big loop of series-connected
electrical detonators, each one punched into the topmost dynamite stick =
of its hole.

That big loop of wire was an unpredictable antenna,
susceptible to picking up almost any stray rf energy,
most especially including any nearby lightning strokes.

HF mobile radios, transmitting tens of watts, were certainly hazardous.
"Probably" our milliwatt Gigahertz cell phones would be safe,
but I wouldn't care to gamble on it. There's too much at stake.
---JRC---

"Steven J Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:[email protected]...
>=20
> Blasting areas, where the crews typically use radio-controlled =
detonators.
>=20
> --=20

No it isn't, its Alltel, who only operates on the cellular B side here.
They don't operate in the PCS band here, and the phone was not roaming, it
kicked over to Alltel Analog from Alltel Digital (CDMA), both in the celluar
band.


"John Eckart" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
The reason you get analog in the hospital and not digital is because analog
runs in the megahertz band, and your particular cell provider runs its
digital service in the gigahertz band. Megahertz is a lower frequency which
travels further and penetrates buildings much better than the higher and
more reflective gigahertz band. If you have a provider who runs its digital
service in the megahertz band, you'd have much less problems inside
buildings and hospitals.

Note that you never want to use analog mode unless it's an emergency. If a
hacker picks up your unsecure analog signal, they'll be able to clone your
phone and run up your bill.


"Bill Roland" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:meMub.7594$zx.2721@lakeread03...
> I have 3 of those too, maybe I should haul one in and see what happens.
No,
> I won't, but I bet it would wreak havoc on a lot of stuff around there. I
> do what the hospital politely asks, I turn my cell phone off at the door,
> but most people I know do not. The behavior of most Dual Mode phones I
have
> seen is that the moment you walk in the hospital it switches to Analog
with
> a very low signal, then you hit spots inside that have no service, others
> where you may have full strength, but its always Analog. The moment you
> step out the doors it returns to digital. I cannot explain it but it
> happens every time.
>
> Also, a few years back I had an aunt that had surgery at North Florida
> Regional in Gainesville. At the time they had, and still did have a few
> months ago when I was by there, a cell tower on top of the hospital. Not
> sure how good that is for all that sensitive equipment they are operating
> below...but that's their problem.
>
> "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > "Bill Roland" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > newsADub.7066$zx.1846@lakeread03...
> > > Which is funny, I've seen many cell phones kick into Analog when
inside
> > the
> > > hospital. I've seen at least 5 StarTACs do it...
> > >
> >
> > But your startac does not output 3 watts of power like the old bag
phones.
> >
> > Tom Veldhouse
> >
> >
>
>

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 00:02:14 -0600, Steven J Sobol
<[email protected]> posted in alt.cellular.verizon:

>In alt.cellular.verizon Bill Roland <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Which is funny, I've seen many cell phones kick into Analog when inside the
>> hospital. I've seen at least 5 StarTACs do it...

>There's probably a metric buttload of RF shielding at a hospital. I'm surprised
>phones could be used at all.

Not in any hospital I've been in. And we used to provide
communication for one hospital whenever their phone system went down,
using out ham radio repeater and walkie talkies.

>Back when I worked in Lakewood, Ohio, I worked in an office that had
>an MRI service on the first floor. It was so heavily shielded that you couldn't
>get a cell signal anywhere lower than the fourth floor... Now the MRI is gone
>and you can get a signal anywhere in the building.

That's because of the interference the MRI would cause without the
shielding. X-Ray bays are also shielded. Hospital buildings don't
need shielding for the entire building, though.

In alt.cellular John R. Copeland <[email protected]> wrote:
> Do they blast with radios now?

ICBW. I'm not the authoritative person on the subject.
That information didn't come from me originally.

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JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * [email protected]

In <[email protected]> Al Klein <[email protected]> writes:

>>get a cell signal anywhere lower than the fourth floor... Now the MRI is gone
>>and you can get a signal anywhere in the building.

>That's because of the interference the MRI would cause without the
>shielding. X-Ray bays are also shielded. Hospital buildings don't
>need shielding for the entire building, though.

It's just that, in general, hospitals tend to be more massively
constructed than light duty structures. Add in a whole bunch more in teh
way of piping and other in-the-wall metallic infrastructure, and radio
signals run into trouble...

--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
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On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 09:29:06 -0500, "Thomas M. Goethe"
<[email protected]> posted in alt.cellular.verizon:

> The thing that is so funny is getting screeched at by one hospital
>worker for merely having one (that was indeed turned off) as two others in
>the same area are using theirs. When I asked, I was told they were "special"
>ones that are safe. Hmm, looked just like the ones I had.

They may be "intrinsically safe", but that has nothing to do with
hospitals unless anesthesia is in use, and that's a stretch.