For once there is a mobile phone/health story that does not end with them threatening life and limb: instead mobile phones are being used as an indication that patients may be well enough to discharge. What happened is that doctors at music festivals who were treating youngsters overcome by the excitement noticed that when the patients were well enough to reach for their phone to start texting friends they were generally well enough to go.
It looks like it was a particularly useful indication when it came to prioritising cases – those who were texting probably needed attention less than those who were not.
Loved the quote from Dr Mike Sinclair, doing his best impersonation of a traditionsl what-is-a-t-shirt-type high court judge:
Obviously, we did not check to make sure the texts made sense – but this might not be easy, given that many of them appear to make no sense at the best of times
Bit of a pot-kettle situation there though. Doctors are not exactly renowned for their legibility.
One small thing though. The illustration. I think most youngsters at a music festival would rather be seen dead than be seen texting on what looks like an eight-year-old Nokia 6210!
How young would they be if they were excited enough to faint while listening to Green Day? Or Rage Against the Machine? Personally I think an 8 year old phone is a bit trendy….
Umm… 46? Actually, I don’t think I would faint, but I would be pretty chuffed to see Green Day or RATM 🙂