Older pacemakers could be adversely impacted if people who had them were anywhere near an average microwave oven in operation - we had those signs up around the office kitchenette less than 15 years ago.
Currently strong magnets can still mess with pacemakers. Fun fact, some modern phones have magnets in them that can do that - be careful about resting your phone on your chest if you have a pacemaker. I think the wireless charging unit is to blame.
As a kid we went to the University of Michigan hospital every six months for my brother.
One visit we go to the cafeteria for lunch as usual, and there were signs everywhere warning that microwave ovens were in use!
My mom asked one of the staffers what the signs were for and she told us that it turns out these new devices could affect pacemakers in a real bad way.
“We found out the hard way when a few patients went into cardiac arrest right here in the cafeteria! Took them awhile to connect the dots…”
“Oh my god,” my mom said! “Did you lose anyone?”
“Oh no honey…there ain’t no better place to have one of those than in a hospital!”
It would be years before we got one at home, and nobody we knew had a pacemaker.
Older pacemakers could be adversely impacted if people who had them were anywhere near an average microwave oven in operation - we had those signs up around the office kitchenette less than 15 years ago.
Currently strong magnets can still mess with pacemakers. Fun fact, some modern phones have magnets in them that can do that - be careful about resting your phone on your chest if you have a pacemaker. I think the wireless charging unit is to blame.
Ah, that makes a lot of sense.
As a kid we went to the University of Michigan hospital every six months for my brother.
One visit we go to the cafeteria for lunch as usual, and there were signs everywhere warning that microwave ovens were in use!
My mom asked one of the staffers what the signs were for and she told us that it turns out these new devices could affect pacemakers in a real bad way.
“We found out the hard way when a few patients went into cardiac arrest right here in the cafeteria! Took them awhile to connect the dots…”
“Oh my god,” my mom said! “Did you lose anyone?”
“Oh no honey…there ain’t no better place to have one of those than in a hospital!”
It would be years before we got one at home, and nobody we knew had a pacemaker.