I'm Dana Jay, and this is Henry Ford Health System News.
This is our opportunity to bring you more great stories about the
accomplishments of our team members in the science and art of care. Today,
we're starting with a potentially life-saving discovery by Henry Ford
cardiologists that prompted a warning for heart patients who use IPhones.
I unfortunately like a lot of our patients, um, put my phone in my front pocket.
Henry Ford cardiologists,
Joshua Greenberg and Gurjit Singh have discovered that could be a major
problem for some patients who are also iPhone 12 users.
Here's why:
there's a strong magnet on Apple's new iPhone 12 that helps optimize
charging.
Strong magnets are also used to control implantable cardiac devices.
Anybody can put an external magnet of enough strength,
and if you bring it close to the device,
it will turn off the defibrillator from shocking the patient.
The doctors wanted to know if the magnet on the iPhone 12 was strong enough to
do the same thing.
When I first was reading about the new iPhone,
they said the magnet was so strong you could actually attach it to your
refrigerator.
In order to find out they passed an iPhone 12 over the chest of a
patient with an implantable defibrillator.
What we showed was when the phone was brought close to the patient. Uh,
we believe the distance is around close to a centimeter,
uh,
from the patient's chest where we saw that the defibrillator was deactivated and
the defibrillator remained deactivated until the time the phone was close to the
patient's chest. And the moment we take the distributor,
the iPhone away from the defibrillator site,
the ICD or the defibrillator goes back to his normal function.
That set off alarm bells.
More than 300,000 people in the United States undergo
surgery to implant a pacemaker or defibrillator each year.
And approximately one in four cell phones sold last year was an iPhone
12.
The doctor's discovery means a patient's life saving device might
not work when they need it most.
Putting a iPhone in your pocket with an ICD,
a defibrillator can potentially, um, uh,
stop it from delivering therapies and prevents you from getting a life-saving
shock.
Singh is also concerned about the effect of the I-phone's magnet could have on
pacemakers.
If a magnet is placed on a pacemaker, as I said,
the pacemaker will start pacing the heart, regardless of patient's heart rhythm.
There's a very rare chance that forced pacing, uh,
will interacts with the hearts on beats and can bring out a fast
deadly rhythm, which can be potentially lethal.
Based on the Henry Ford doctors' findings.
Apple has published a warning to users that reads in part medical devices,
such as implanted pacemakers and defibrillators might contain sensors that
respond to magnets and radios when in close contact.
To avoid any potential interactions with these devices,
keep your iPhone and Mag Safe accessories,
a safe distance away from your device.
Dr. Singh says a safe distance means at least six inches.
And that goes for any brand of phone that uses magnets and magnetic cases
to Dr. Singh and his colleagues continue to study this phenomenon.
And so does the FDA. Now let's check in on Henry Ford's small,
but mighty Employee Health team. As of early February,
they vaccinated more than 19,000 team members.
Let me put that in perspective for you at two shots per person,
that's more inoculations than they do in an entire flu season.
All in about two months. For registered nurse, Sarah Heim,
every single team member vaccinated represents one more step towards ending the
pandemic.
I'm energized and really excited about giving vaccines to everybody.
Before anyone could literally roll up their sleeves to get the vaccine employee
health had to roll up their metaphorical ones and figure out how to get so
many shots into so many arms so quickly.
For COVID they basically wanted five times that
amount where each clinic it was expected to do around a
thousand vaccines COVID vaccines a week.
Teresa Iaquinta and Fadwa Fawaz led the efforts to figure out how to to do it.
We created the, uh, plane as we were flying it.
We had to find the locations. We had to find the staff.
Under normal circumstances.
Employee health only has about 15 vaccinators across all five acute
care hospitals.
They started working longer hours through weekends and holidays.
And about 100 team members from other sites have been stepping up and stepping
in to fill shifts.
It's just been amazing. We put out notes back in early December.
When we knew that we were going to start vaccinating looking for additional
staff and immediately we had more folks than we
needed volunteer to help work with us.
Leaders had to figure out logistics,
working with pharmacy to store and deliver the vaccine and the My Chart team to
create a booking system.
And they set up a hotline to handle bookings and answer questions.
Since January 1st,
the employee health COVID hotline has fielded more than 16,000
calls. At the end of the day,
the team will tell you all the hard work is worth it.
It is such a good feeling. We have so many staff that are just so thankful.
Employees who would still like to receive the COVID-19 vaccine should contact
the Employee Health call center. We're linking you to their page on one Henry.
And now go to Henry Ford West Bloomfield hospital,
where they're putting a seasonal spin on safety.
Hands out, turn your feet and let's waddle.
Proper waddling makes winter walking safer certified medical assistant Katelyn
Richardson is spreading the word at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in her
penguin onesie.
McWaddles is a campaign to get all of our team members to learn how to walk
safely in the ice and snow.
The penguin suit is new this year, a twist on the traditional duck waddle.
In the past, it used to be a duck,
but we really liked the idea of a penguin cause they actually walk on ice.
Whereas ducks usually migrate.
That's the only way to escape the Michigan winter.
So McWaddles is regularly rounding on units,
delivering traits and reminding team members of the simple techniques for
staying.
When the team sees McWaddles going down Main Street, they,
they laugh and they're like, some people are like, Oh my gosh,
why are you dressed like a penguin? And,
and Katie has the chance to really explain, Hey,
I'm here to remind you to walk safely.
Employee safety specialists.
Sarah Zuzga says leaders at West Bloomfield want to reduce the slip and falls by
35% this year.
And I'm happy to say in January, we did not have a single slip and fall outside.
I don't mind telling you I learned something from McWaddles and I've been
practicing my winter walking. All right, let's do the featured photo.
This time we're going to Henry Ford Allegiance Hospital.
Say hello to the heart and vascular team there.
The team donated heart-healthy food and made goodie boxes for our patients.
The boxes were stocked with low sodium, low sugar and whole grain foods.
We see some fresh fruits and vegetables in there too.
The boxes were delivered around the holidays,
but we know our teams go above and beyond all year long.
And since it's heart month,
a big shout out to everyone out there who's keeping our patient's heart healthy.
We heart you, and we'll love you even more.
If you send us your news tips and featured photos, you can send them to news
tips@hfhs.org. Thanks for watching. And I'll see you around.
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