ECG failure and mobile phone carrying.
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Join Date: Aug 2002
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ECG failure and mobile phone carrying.
Hi All,
On the way to work today a colleague commented on my habit of carrying a mobile phone in my shirt pocket. He tells me that there is a story going around his flying club that one of the guys failed an ECG and was advised that the reason was probably because he carried his mobile in his shirt pocket. The upshot here is that the guy returned to the AME some weeks later and passed(having stopped carrying the phone in the pocket). Does any qualified medical person here have any idea whether this is likely,or not?
Regards
EW
On the way to work today a colleague commented on my habit of carrying a mobile phone in my shirt pocket. He tells me that there is a story going around his flying club that one of the guys failed an ECG and was advised that the reason was probably because he carried his mobile in his shirt pocket. The upshot here is that the guy returned to the AME some weeks later and passed(having stopped carrying the phone in the pocket). Does any qualified medical person here have any idea whether this is likely,or not?
Regards
EW
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Hey.
Im not a medical person by any means but...
There has been rumors that mobile phones can have affects on your health for years, yet there is no solid evidence that they do.
What you have heard may just be a rumor, or they may be a link between the two. But as far as i'm aware there isn't any evidence of this.
Sam
Im not a medical person by any means but...
There has been rumors that mobile phones can have affects on your health for years, yet there is no solid evidence that they do.
What you have heard may just be a rumor, or they may be a link between the two. But as far as i'm aware there isn't any evidence of this.
Sam
Join Date: May 2004
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And neither will there be any evidence so long as the mobile companies fund the medical research or continue to lobby those that have the clout to do anything!
Mmmmmmm, that sounds almost like a conspiracy theory!!
BTW, I shot JFK!
Mmmmmmm, that sounds almost like a conspiracy theory!!
BTW, I shot JFK!
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I have one word for that story. It begins with b and ends in s!
If you leave your phone on and in your pocket while someone is doing the ECG then it might possibly interfere electrically with the signal and give a dodgy ECG.
There is no evidence at all that having your mobile in your pocket affects your heart's electrical system. Neither will there ever be. Even if it did affect it, you wouldn't get resolution of the problem from removing the phone.
People with pacemakers are allowed to carry their mobiles in their shirt pockets and it doesn't affect them!
It's all a bit far fetched for me.
Bob the Doc
If you leave your phone on and in your pocket while someone is doing the ECG then it might possibly interfere electrically with the signal and give a dodgy ECG.
There is no evidence at all that having your mobile in your pocket affects your heart's electrical system. Neither will there ever be. Even if it did affect it, you wouldn't get resolution of the problem from removing the phone.
People with pacemakers are allowed to carry their mobiles in their shirt pockets and it doesn't affect them!
It's all a bit far fetched for me.
Bob the Doc
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I'd also be surprised if a medical certificate was issued when all of a sudden the ECG became normal after being dodgy a few weeks before. Mobile phone doesn't explain this, one would expect a little bit more investigation before the medical was issued. So urban myth, methinks.
Most of the boll*cks surrounding banning mobile phones in hospital, is more to do with swelling the coffers of the commissioned communication services, than patient safety, I'm afraid.
Did your colleague actually have his phone in his pocket during the ecg?
Did your colleague actually have his phone in his pocket during the ecg?
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jerryerb12
Absolutely riduculous! The conductivity of the electrical system of the heart is not affected at all by outside forces, except electecution. Heck we all walk by high voltage all the time without any affect, why would a cell phone affect us. It makes no sense at all. Also, EKG's can change simply by improper lead placement.
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Reading through the thread on a recent EGG I also experienced a spurious ECG recording indicating an Elevated ST level suggesting I had experienced a silent MI. To my relief after numerous tests the spurious recordings never re-occurred. At the time my mobile telephone was very close to the sensor and ECG recorder. Cost me over £2K to prove the reading was spurious. To be sure switch your mobile telephone OFF a missed call is far cheaper than an investigation.
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About 10 years ago I worked in ILS calibration and cell phones used analogue transmission. If I left the ILS receiver switched on and walked up and down the workshop with my analogue cell phone switched on (no speech, just occasional handshaking with the base station) I could watch the glideslope go from full scale deflection up or down, depending on my distance from the ILS aerial. All the kit was functioning correctly and the earthing was very good.
Cell phones could cause interference to an ILS when they were analogue. Now they are digital I guess they have even more potential to cause interference – but aircraft kit now shields better, transmitted power from the phone is generally less, so who knows?
I can say as an RF engineer I was told in my training you never expose yourself to any form of RF if it is avoidable (I still keep my cell phone at arms length from me whenever possible). If it is not avoidable, assess the risks. To return to the subject, most medical facilities ask that you switch off your phone, that’s a sensible request. For pilots undergoing any medical exam using electronic equipment, I would say it’s essential.
Cell phones could cause interference to an ILS when they were analogue. Now they are digital I guess they have even more potential to cause interference – but aircraft kit now shields better, transmitted power from the phone is generally less, so who knows?
I can say as an RF engineer I was told in my training you never expose yourself to any form of RF if it is avoidable (I still keep my cell phone at arms length from me whenever possible). If it is not avoidable, assess the risks. To return to the subject, most medical facilities ask that you switch off your phone, that’s a sensible request. For pilots undergoing any medical exam using electronic equipment, I would say it’s essential.
