We’ve known for a while that mobile phone jammers were popular with places like hotels even though they were illegal. And while a US firm selling the devices is involved in a lawsuit claiming that banning the devices is unconstitutional, they’re still very much barred. Yet, as the NY Times reports this weekend, overseas sellers of the devices (including personal ones that you can keep in your pocket) are seeing growing demand from US users, including random people who just like to mess with mobile phone chatters around them. Of course, for those of you tempted to annoy those who normally annoy you with their chatter, at least recognize that the fine for getting caught using these devices STARTS at $11,000 (in the US).

via http://www.techdirt.com

a device to turn off cell phones, too bad its not legal

One of my dearest friends is the daughter of a very senior firefighter/paramedic in a major US city… she called him one day to complain about a teacher, and her dad actually answered the phone while he was performing CPR on a woman. At some point in time, the woman was conscious and asked who he was talking to — he told her it was his daughter (around the same time that he said “sweetie, I’m trying to do CPR, can I call you back later??”) and my friend heard the (nearly-dead) woman say “She sounds so sweet!”

Really and truly, I couldn’t make that up…

I, do, however, have to admit my own transgression (but, it *was* the first indicator that my mom was going to survive a possibly fatal head injury)

Yes, I saw the signs as I walked into the ER/Trauma Dept that my mom had been life-flighted to (Ford Explorer rollover — if you own one, sell it. I know you don’t think you can afford it, but I promise you that selling it is cheaper than the medical bills you will incur when it decides to do somersaults down the interstate) Yes, I understand that signs are posted for a reason (FDA motivated or not). Believe it or not, I do have a significant amount of respect for medical personnel (my family tree includes a doctor or two — one might be my dad).

Anyway, by the time I made it to my mom, I had her cell phone and my own in my possession and I was trying to keep track of my dad (he couldn’t go out of town with us that weekend b/c he was on call, so he was driving to meet us at the hospital she was flown to) Fast forward through a lot of gory (but really rather fascinating — and ultimately miraculous) diagnosis and treatment… Grandma (Mom’s mom) found out about the wreck. She called my mom’s phone first, and I didn’t answer. Then she called my phone, and I knew she was really worried. After a quick, nonverbal communication with my dad and then the nurse in the room, I moved over to the corner and answered. Grandma was very clear and concise — she wanted to know if my mom was a) alive, b) going to survive and c) if she was going to survive, whether she’d know her own name and be able to walk. My mother — in a drug induced stupor (but still beautifully rebellious, as expected for one raised in the Deep South) heard her Mom through the cell phone on the other side of a 12×12 trauma room and managed a “oh lord, please, not her!”

At that point, despite significant head trauma, the doctors (2 of them entered during this phone call) were positive she was going to make a full recovery. And, for the most part, she has.

In conclusion… while all too often abused, cell phones in the ED aren’t ALWAYS a bad thing!

I stayed busy for the next hour or so and then went back and she was gone. I got real excited, peaked in the bathroom, and discovered she wasn’t there either. It was like Christmas morning.

General rule of thumb — if you’re well enough to chat away on the cell phone your probably going to be ok.

--> http://www.globalgadgetuk.com/rx9000.htm (many other similar gadgets on that site.)

I also found instructions for a do-it-yourself jammer, big as a pack of cigarettes, if you are more mechanically inclined than electrocutionally inclined …

I told someone that I was “about to decompensate”. Later on, I went in the back room to hide and eat my lunch and not more than 2 seconds into microwaving my food, the aide and the secretary came back and said they were throwing a fit because I had not told them how much insulin I gave and the patient’s lunch tray was what he ordered for diet, but he didn’t like WHITE BREAD and HOW CAN YOU GIVE SOMEONE WHITE BREAD IN A HOSPITAL AND HE NEEDS WHEAT BREAD AND RE-CHECK HIS BLOOD SUGAR RIGHT NOW.

Meanwhile, the patient was alert and oriented and wasn’t complaining about his food at all, etc.

It was a study in how to piss people off in a hospital, a farce if you will.