Debate about cell phones in hospitals.

[sparks19]

Recently there has been some news articles in our local paper about hospitals refuting the thought that cell phones interfere with the machines. Many hospitals have foudn it does not affect the machines and are allowing cell phone use.... others are adamant that they do not want cell phones used in the hospital....

My question is this....

Why does it matter? Whether it interferes with machines or not people should NOT use their phones in the hospital nor even have them turned on. Remember a hospital is full of sick and injured people.... I'm sure the last thing they want to hear is everyone's cell phone ringing and playing their ridiculous songs and other noises.... nor do they want to hear some loudmouth chatting away about the days happenings. IMO< if you must use your cell phone while at a hospital please go outside to do so. There is no need to use it inside and disturb the patients.

What is your opinion?

[ramanth]

When Andy was very ill and in ICU, I would step out into the hall or into the waiting room to call family and friends to update them on his condition. I was not allowed to use the phone at the nurse station, there was no phone in his room, and no pay phone to be found.

Keeping in touch with the outside world while Andy was medically knocked out kept me sane.

Personally, I try to avoid using my cell phone out in public unless I'm expecting a call or such situations like the one I mentioned above. I try to be curteous and put my cell phone on vibrate and I make a mental note not to shout or talk loud.

[shais_mom]

, and no pay phone to be found.

our local phone company came in one day and RIPPED out both of our PAY PHONES without telling anyone about it b/c they didn't have enough charges on it - probably b/c everyone uses their cell phones!! Made quite lovely LARGE BARREN holes in the walls!!!

And Pembroke_Corgi is right in larger facilities most nurses use a type of cell phone to communicate with each other.

In 2004 my grandma was dying in the hospital. If I wouldn't have had my cell phone I would have gone insane. I was on it on my way TO the hospital, while I was there (I didn't take it into the CCU where she was - ever) to tell my dad what I found out since he was recovering from surgery and unable to be there himself, and using it on the trip home. And yes that $150 phone bill bit me in the arse when it came - but I switched to the IN network and its been a GODsend.
and Jo
do you have bluetooth? Come June/July OH is one of the first states to pass not using your cell phone in the car without the hands free option. But you legal eagle mind probably KNEW that and could tell me a thing or 2 about it!

[ramanth]

our local phone company came in one day and RIPPED out both of our PAY PHONES without telling anyone about it b/c they didn't have enough charges on it - probably b/c everyone uses their cell phones!! Made quite lovely LARGE BARREN holes in the walls!!!

My parents were camping at a State Park last summer (one we've been too many time before) and walked up to the Ranger Station to use the pay phone and were surprised to find them gone. Lady working said the phone company just up and took them with no notice. So my parents bike down a mile to the local marina. THEIR phone was also gone.

So they biked back to the campground, got in the truck and drove for hours looking for a payphone. Finally found one (can't recall where...an old gas station I think) and called to let me know they got to the campground safely.

Days later when my dad blacked out from vertigo, mom had to drive miles away from the hospital to that same gas station just to let us know what had happened and how he was doing.

They now have a cell phone.

[sparks19]

My parents were camping at a State Park last summer (one we've been too many time before) and walked up to the Ranger Station to use the pay phone and were surprised to find them gone. Lady working said the phone company just up and took them with no notice. So my parents bike down a mile to the local marina. THEIR phone was also gone.

So they biked back to the campground, got in the truck and drove for hours looking for a payphone. Finally found one (can't recall where...an old gas station I think) and called to let me know they got to the campground safely.

Days later when my dad blacked out from vertigo, mom had to drive miles away from the hospital to that same gas station just to let us know what had happened and how he was doing.

They now have a cell phone.

Hey is it true that pay phones in the US will only allow you to talk for a few minutes before you have to add more money? I have heard that before....

Where I am from one quarter in the phone and you can talk forever if you wanted to.

As for cell phones in camp grounds.... I guess it depends on the cell phone and company but more often than not I can't get any signal on my cell phone outside of town until I get into another town. I used to ONLY have a cell phone and no home phone... but I got sick and tired of my phone dropping my calls everytime I wanted to talk to my mom for more than 5 minutes.

Not to mention they cost a fortune to use... especially to call Canada. lol

And the batteries.... ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH. You would think with all the "technology" they could get batteries that will charge and don't go dead after 5 minutes if you have had the phone longer than a year.... maybe it's a conspiracy to keep you buying the newest phones

[ramanth]

Hey is it true that pay phones in the US will only allow you to talk for a few minutes before you have to add more money? I have heard that before....

Where I am from one quarter in the phone and you can talk forever if you wanted to.

I think there is a time limit but honestly can't remember, but I do remember when pay phones were a dime, then they raised the rate to a quarter, then to 35 cents.

While at the mall recently, I noticed they still had two pay phones and it's 50 cents now! And I think there is a time limit.

My parents would use a calling card with the pay phones.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Our local phone company came in one day and RIPPED out both of our PAY PHONES
without telling anyone about it b/c they didn't have enough charges on it ...

... walked up to the Ranger Station to use the pay phone and were surprised to find them gone.
... to the local marina. THEIR phone was also gone.
... got in the truck and drove for hours looking for a payphone.

Sadly, Pay Phones are a dying breed - soon to be come extinct.

Many years ago, Pay Phones were a source of considerable profit to the major
telephone companies - the ONLY folks who were allowed to "own" a pay phone
and connect it to the national phone network. No competition and no competing technologies.
Life was good - Pay Phones on every corner of most intersections - 5 or 10 cents a call.

Enter "deregulation" - the change that was going to revolutionize communications ...
It did ...
* 1-800 numbers became affordable and everyone got one.
* "Calling Cards" ate into the cash that used to pile up in Pay Phone hoppers.
* Any Tom, Dick, or Harriett could buy a Pay Phone - and Ma Bell HAD to let
. . the owner connect it to the network and "make some money".

Net results >>>
* NObody found many coins in their Pay Phones any more
* The Baby Bells spent tons of money servicing Pay Phones and providing network services
. . to all the "private pay phone owners" that were now getting a piece of the revenue pie.
* Vandalism of the remote phones increased - what little money fell into the hopper
. . was stolen, and the damage cost more than 3 years "revenue" to repair.
* Rates went up; phones became Really Scarce; the "dial tone" cost you an initial
. . 50 cents ... more due if you "connected"; NO "free" 1-800 calls - everybody "pays"!

And THAT resulted in ...
* The Bells and the Privates started pulling out phones left & right
* "Operator Service" has deteriorated - you can wait for 5-10 minutes to "talk" to a human!
** More & more CELL PHONES to kill what little business remains for the Old Antique Pay Phone!

Progress ...

[Logan]

I think of hospital phones as I do pay phones and hotel phones. EXPENSIVE!!!
Can't even remember the last time I used a pay phone.

Ever pay for a bill at a hotel, after making a long distance call? This is money maker for the hotel. Good for them! I'm sure that the hospitals and pay phone companies have the same attitude. In my business, I have made a lot of hotel loans. And for a long time, there was a specific line item for income from the phones in the rooms, and it was pretty significant. I see it less frequently, now, and I'm sure it is because more and more people use their cell phones, which offer free long distance, rather than the alternative of making those long distance calls from the hotel phone.

Even now, at our home, we choose to use our cell phone for calling family, rather than our home phone. Although we have the capability to make long distance calls from our home phone, we don't. My daughter and I have unlimited calling from our cell phones to anywhere in the US. Why would we not use them? And if we, or any member of our family, were in the hospital, we would be so grateful to be able to do that. Good manners are a given, and some folks just don't have good manners, especially in regards to the use of their cell phones. Shame on them.

I'm thinking, at this point, that life must be pretty darned good for a thread on this particular topic to get so much attention! Maybe, if we have so much time, we need to go love on our pets or pay attention to our family!! LOL!!

[Cataholic]

Maybe, if we have so much time, we need to go love on our pets or pay attention to our family!! LOL!!

Uh, hello? Two hands! One for the cell phone, one to pet the feline.

[lizbud]

I'm thinking, at this point, that life must be pretty darned good for a thread on this particular topic to get so much attention! Maybe, if we have so much time, we need to go love on our pets or pay attention to our family!! LOL!!

Logan, if you didn't work outside the house & threaded beads all day,
you would need a distraction like this too.

[Edwina's Secretary]

What about patients gabbing on landline phones? Should those be taken out as well? Might disturb the patient in the next bed?

Last year I was in the emergency room...as a patient. There are many, many area codes in SoCal. They had a phone I could use to call my husband and tell him I was there...but the phone would not call his area code. Had I not had my cell phone to use there would not have been a way for me to talk to him. Same once I was admitted. Only way I could call him was on my cell.

You are assuming cell phone usage is only by visitors. What about patients?

[ramanth]

You bring up a good point Sara. I remember now that when Andy was recovering, he'd call friends from his cell phone to thank them for the well wishes and/or gifts.

He'd even gab when the nurses made him take daily walks. When you're cooped up and don't have visitors, you need to have an outlet of some sort. I'm sure many paitents can agree with that.

[JenBKR]

I've actually wondered about this too. My brother-in-law was in the hospital not long ago, and when we visited him I saw a hospital worker on his cell phone in the hall. I have always thought that you shouldn't have your cell on in hospital, and I'm careful to turn mine off (although I also try not to use my cell in public as much as possible). But I have heard lately that some people are saying it really is safe. When my BIL was in the hospital, he had a phone in his room, but he had to pay at the nurses station to have the phone be able to dial out. He could receive calls, but not call anyone. They told him he was not allowed to use his cell phone. Yet, it was at this hospital that I saw the worker on his cell phone. Strikes me as odd....

[Cinder & Smoke]

You are assuming cell phone usage is only by visitors.
What about patients?

And what about the REAL "abusers" of the No Cell Phone rules ...

The DOCTORS!

I've only had a couple Nurses or Nurse's AIDs complain about me using the
cell dinger inside the Hospital.
I always tried to spot a Doctor while I was being told off ...
it was almost a Sure Thing the Doc would either get or make a cell call while
*I* was being squalked at!

[Edwina's Secretary]

I wonder...what makes a cell phone conversation (assuming the caller isn't shouting etc.) more annoying that any other conversation?

Two people having a conservation on a bus...normal.... someone on a cell phone on a bus...annoying... same volume...same subject....why do we find one more offensive than the other?

(I know I find it to be true!)