Twin Falls Hospitals Ban Cellular Phone Use

Officials at two Twin Falls hospitals think cellular phones could be harmful or even deadly to patients.

Twin Falls Clinic and Hospital banned the use of cellular phones and two-way radios a month ago, fearing they could interfere with medical equipment such as oxygen-supplying ventilators and infusion pumps, said Lana Hill, infection control practitioner and safety director.

Biomedical Engineering Director Dan Whatcott said he started reading reports last year about interference with medical equipment. Studies mainly have been done in Canada and Europe.

“The (Food & Drug Administration) here in the United States has been a little bit slow in providing information on these problems,” said Whatcott. He said the devices can be carried in the hospital but must be turned off.

There have been no confirmed cases at Twin Falls Clinic and Hospital, Whatcott said a cellular telephone used by a visitor last summer may have disrupted a heart monitor in the room she was visiting.

Magic Valley Regional Medical Center also has banned using cellular telephones, Chief Information Officer Dave Garets said.

St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise did some testing with cellulars and disrupted a ventilator with one, Garets said.

Two-way radios are banned in some parts of Magic Valley Regional Medical Center but not the whole hospital.

Chrysa Czerniak, spokeswoman for United States Cellular Corp., said the problem may be whether medical equipment is properly shielded against frequency-emitting devices such as television, computers, two-way radios and cellular telephones.

Cellular telephones probably shouldn’t be used close to medical equipment, she said.

“There’s been very few reported interference incidents.” said Czerniak. “In fact, we think they may be largely exaggerated.”

From September 1993 to September 1994, 48 of 96,781 problem reports to the FDA were related to electromagnetic interference from devices such as cellular telephones and twoway radios, according to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.