Cell phones on telemetry floors

RNMBA · Sep 18, 2003

A friend of mine is a tech rep for one of the monitor companies. She says that telemetry equipment and cell phones are too far apart on the radio spectrum (her terminology) for interference to be a problem.

I've got very little experience with telemetry equipment but we let families use cell phones in the unit and haven't experienced any trouble.

IDreamOfJeanne · Sep 18, 2003

bellehill, i too work on a telemetry unit where we have a strict "no cell phone" policy. i'm told cells do actually cause some interference with the monitors, although i've never had that statement proven to me. we will allow those with cells to step right outside of our unit and use their cells, which is only 20 feet away.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2003

Cell phones have been demonstrated to interfere with the IV pumps - an article about it was in a recent Nursing Journal.

jemb · Sep 18, 2003

One of my coworkers has a pain control unit (kind of like a TENS). She says that if she is next to a cell phone being turned on or off, she gets an electric shock sensation in the location of the wires.

Not a telemetry device, but verification that the activity of the cell phone can do something to some nearby equipment...

gwenith, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2003

We had a case where a post CABG patient died from accidental OD potassium - unknown as to how the pump delivered that much that fast - coroner's finding - interference from mobile phone could not be ruled out. The pump rep pulled some fancy shenanigans during the inquest but the nurses were vindicated.

In the meantime there is pleanty fo research going on to stop the problem from jammers to an automatic blocker to well this

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992461

bellehill, RN · Sep 18, 2003

I hate cell phones in the hospital, especially when the family who really wants to talk to the nurse keeps taking calls during your "talk". Interference with IV pumps is a new problem. Thanks for the info!

lsyorke, RN · Sep 18, 2003

At a hospital that I worked at recently, they took off the cell phone ban. With the new telemetry monitoring it was determined that there was no interference at all. I really have no problems with patients using cell phones, but I know the hospital wasn't so keen on giving up those daily phone charges!!!

I never heard of pump interference, that sounds a little farfetched! Lets face it cell phones are used anyway allowed or not allowed and I've never had a problem with a pump, nor heard of anyone else having a problem.

nialloh, RN · Sep 18, 2003

Our tele monitors were quiet old (8 -10 years old), and we found that if someone used a cell phone in the pt's room, we had an increase in artifact. One time a pt expired, and the family were using 4 phones under one of the antennas. They knocked out 4 monitors until we told them to use the phones elsewhere.

We have since recived the latest monitors, so I don't know how they are affected, I still don't like cell phone use in hospitals.