NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
FCC requires registration of telemetry equipment
July 11, 2005
Mary Beth Savary Taylor, AHA
msavary@aha.org
202-626-2270
Important Reminder!
A Message to AHA and ASHE Members:
In 2000, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) dedicated a portion of the radio spectrum for wireless medical telemetry devices such as wireless heart, blood pressure and respiratory monitors. The creation of the Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS) was a direct result of advocacy from the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), expressing concern that electromagnetic interference with wireless medical telemetry equipment can affect patient safety .
When the FCC allocated the WMTS bands (608-614 MHz, 1395-1400 MHz, and 1427-1432 MHz), they extended the freeze on issuing licenses to high power users in the 460-470 MHz bands for three years to allow hospitals time to migrate to WMTS. Recognizing hospitals?? difficulty in transitioning to WMTS because of limited financial resources and a lack of equipment, ASHE and the AHA worked with the FCC and leaders of the private land mobile radio service (PLMRS) community and extended the freeze until December 31, 2005. The FCC announced this final extension of the bandwidth freeze in its July 8, 2004 Public Notice.
The attached advisory addresses several issues and concerns with the expiration of the freeze, including potential interference from digital television stations operating in the TV band, and the requirement that hospitals need to register their medical telemetry equipment with ASHE, the FCC-designated medical telemetry coordinator. After reviewing this advisory, check off the following items from your to-do list:
-- Share this advisory with your clinical and biomedical engineering professionals, critical care physicians, nursing staff and risk managers.
-- Register your telemetry equipment.
The AHA and ASHE will continue to work closely with the FCC to ensure that interference does not compromise patient care and safety.
Click here for ASHE.org website.