Mobile Phones in Hospital now OK

[tellboy]

I never believed that mobile phones did anything inside a hospital except annoy people. I never thought mobile phones would effect the navigational aids on an aircraft.
How come in both instances it is suddenly perfectly OK to use them.
What other lies are we constantly being fed ?

[buckoneton]

Another one , not to use mobile phones when filling up your car, how can a phone interfere with a fuelling pump ?
The biggest lie thou for me was Tony Blair saying on national television that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and could bomb us in 20 minutes. LIES

[fo3nix]

There is a possibility that the signal can cause interference (it does cause interference in fact -- get a call with your phone near your speakers and you'll hear it buzzing). This is why. However, it's only a weak interference anyway, perhaps they were just going a little too far with precautions?

buckoneton: that issue is due to the phone's antenna system sparking (it can and it does) when it connects to receive a call. Even very small circuits can cause little sparks, mostly that can only be seen in a very dark room. However, the sparks are enough to ignite petrol, so if there's lots of fumes in the air it isn't the best idea.

[Ethel]

This is fact:


Mobiles a fuel pump risk!

DRIVERS have been warned to switch off their mobile phones at petrol stations because of the danger of them sparking fires. The alert follows three incidents where phones have ignited petrol fumes after motorists answered calls while filling their vehicles. One person was left with burns to the face and another received groin injuries. The NHS health chief called for warning signs at the entrances of petrol stations, adding: 'I urge people to remember to switch off phones and keep them off until they leave.'


Published in 2002.

[buckoneton]

Your both right, I suppose there is a possibillity that it could cause damage. Better safe than sorry !
Also I think concerning mobiles, we should follow the German way and ban them in supermarkets, nothing to do with safety, just because they are annoying !

[Bigeye74]

My mobile phone caused my nose to bleed when it modulated onto the intercom system of a helicopter.

buckonetone - technically Sadaam could have launched a SCUD and it could have hit Cyprus, where there are several military bases. Fortunately it would have landed in Northern Cyprus and probably caused a counter attack by Turkey. As for WMD just cos we can't find them doesn't mean they never existed. A large amount of tactical chemicals DID go missing. Where did it go?

[EDLEE]

On the question of gas fumes exploding because of a cell phone, we have a program on TV here in the states called Mythbusters. Every week they test a few widespread " ideas" to see if the are possible, plausible, or "busted". The one with the gas pump was tested using extreme concentrations of fumes in enclosed areas, and with the phones in many states of disassembly (so as to maximize the possibility of a spark).
The final conclusion was that try as they might ( and they tried mightily) they were unable to cause any ignition at all. In this case Myth Busted.

[pagey]

it is safe to use them in many parts of hospitals, but a fellow medical engineer has had it proven to him that they CAN affect medical equipment.