The reasons that all phones must be switched off

As Americans, we are becoming increasingly dependent on our cell phones. Many of us never leave home without them. There are two places, however, requiring that we shut them out in a hospital and on an airplane. As annoying as this policy may be to some people, once you understand the reasons for these prohibitions is actually a reasonable request.

Most people have experienced talking about a cordless phone and suddenly taking a call from another phone or even a truck driver talking on the CB. Or you can call the number on your cell phone number just to hear it coming through your radio. These situations are caused by the fact that all the transmission equipment capable of transmitting signals of less than harmonic sidebands at close range. Even if your phone is not in use, until the phone is switched on continuously send and receive signals to and from the cell tower to maintain the connection between the two. Although this form of interference between transmitters in the home is annoying, the situation becomes very serious in hospitals and aircraft.

In our society of modern technology, aircraft have become more advanced as the years have passed. There are numerous radio stations in the cockpit that allow the pilot to talk with the tower of air. He can also talk to the tower where the plane is on the ground. During the flight, these pilots are in constant contact with air traffic controllers, which maps the flight paths of hundreds of planes in the sky at the same time. Pilots also use their own radar systems where there are obstacles that the controller may have missed. Another feature of aircraft today is that the computer warning the cockpit of any anomalies within the plan. With all this communication going, just imagine how dangerous the situation could become garbled if any interference of any of these communication channels. This is the reason that when boarding an aircraft, airlines ask you to turn off the phone, obviously for good reason.

The problem with the use of mobile phones in hospitals is similar to that of a plane. Many pieces of hospital equipment such as monitors of vital statistics are, and send wireless signals from the equipment in the patient's room to a monitor at the nurse's station. If a patient's blood pressure or heart rate goes up or down to dangerous levels, the nurses are alerted immediately and can take appropriate action. Any interference with these signals can lead to the death of a patient without the nurses while being aware that something was wrong. Interference from mobile phones may also disrupt communication between hospitals and emergency vehicles such as ambulances and rescue helicopters.

So the next time you start to get angry when you are asked to turn your phone off at a hospital or plane, keep in mind the possible consequences if they do not. It's worth a couple of phone calls unanswered.