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CHARGING TROUBLE Crucial medical devices can shut down or malfunction if a provider uses them to charge his phone.Don't Charge Your Phone in Medical Device USB Ports
You know that USB port on the back of your anesthesia machine? Looks like a handy place to recharge your cell phone. Don't do it. When you plug a device such as a smartphone into the anesthesia machine, it can cause a lethal failure while delivering oxygen and/or medicine to surgical patients, says Brad Bonnette, senior project officer of health devices for the ECRI Institute in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Plugging unauthorized devices into USB ports can cause an array of problems, triggering, for instance, some physiological monitors to reboot, according to an ECRI Institute report. Last year, ArsTechnica reported that merely plugging a phone into an anesthesia device could potentially have fatal results for patients. Spacelabs Healthcare recalled its ARKON Anesthesia System with Version 2.0 Software because the machine could stop working if a cell phone or other unwarranted USB device was plugged into one of the unit's 4 USB ports for charging. There have been no injuries or deaths associated with this malfunction, says Spacelabs..svg?sfvrsn=56b2f850_5)