You Are So Busted......

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We all suspected it was a load of horse manure but now we have confirmation. Cell phones don't interfere with lifesaving equipment. Grandpa didn't die because you sent a text message to your boyfriend, he died because he was old and sick--that happens to a lot of really old sick people.


So why do hospitals ban the cell? It is pretty obvious. People who talk on cell phones in public places loud enough for others to hear are extremely annoying.

One lady next to me talking on a cell phone was so irritating I wanted to take the phone and shove it up her nose. After that I started monitoring my own cell phone conversations and have started really paying attention and modulating my voice.

Unfortunately most people are not that introspective, and don't care that we have to hear the business end of them yelling at their teenagers, some customer service drone, their hard of hearing grandma or engaging in sexy banter with their spouses. They should. Someone should make a video tape of these conversations and send it to them with enhanced audio, showing people's facial expressions during these ridiculous exchanges, they would be shocked at how not pretty they look.

But this leaves us with the Health Care industry and their big lie. Why not just say that cell phone use is disruptive to patient care. Why deny people who are trying to contact family members near and far about their sick relative, or not allow patients to talk to relatives who are not local.

According to the article there are still some skeptics in the medical industry that are suspicious of cell phones and still believe it may interfere with sensitive medical equipment. I don't believe it. They are just covering their asses because they knew they were making it all up.

A few years ago I worked on a Medicare Unit of a prominent Seattle hospital. The patients were mostly elderly and we did not have a bunch of monitoring equipment. We had some IV pumps and wound vacs and nothing else that I would consider high tech and life sustaining. One time we had a code and even the ER doc who came to help said he thought everyone on this unit was a no code (which reminds me of the joke what do you call a medical student who graduated last in his class? Doctor). Anyway you get the idea. There was this huge sign near the elevator with a cell phone enclosed in a red circle with a line drawn through it stating the cell phones interfere with life sustaining equipment. One day I asked the charge nurse which life saving equipment and she said there is none we just don't want people using cell phones up here.

I am sure some facilities will still keep the signs and keep the lie alive, but now you know the truth and this truth is just another chunk removed from the Medical Industrial complex's armor. What's next?

Universal Health Care? I know--way too much, we need to take baby steps.

Charging $5 for an aspirin?