work

My husband has a pacemaker and works for a wind turbine company as an inspector, his cardiologist says he should be fine- his company just posted a sign no pacemakers allowed in turbine. this worries me. What are the risk??

6 Comments

work

by hector - 2012-09-11 04:09:12

He is never allowed in the turbine while they are in operation, however i would imagine the magnets are always in operation.

turbines

by manaman - 2012-09-11 05:09:17

This is a CYA by the company. Things can/do happen when in high magnetic areas. Usually it just puts you back to original state BEFORE implant. I can tell you it will/does make you feel differntly though (been there, done that). Will it kill you? Not likely
Cecil

PM's & Wind Turbines

by donr - 2012-09-11 07:09:53

I'm afraid I'm w/. the employer on this one. Their liability is too great to allow them to do any other course of action.

Consider:

1) He will be climbing over 100 feet in the sky to work.

2) If the wind Turbine uses permanent magnets, they are extremely strong rare earth supermagnets & there is too great a chance that the stray fields may affect the PM. They cannot be de-energized. They cannot afford to have a PM host that far up requiring assistance.

3) If the Wind Turbines are the current type using self exciting systems for magnetic field generation, it's no big deal if the system is not generating. Then it becomes a question of whether or not he has to be in the system housing while it is generating for troubleshooting work. Then there is the potential for affecting the PM.

If the company has any sense, they will find him a new job w/i the company at the same pay. It's just smart personnel management. Don't bet on that, however. Human resources never look at that aspect of management.

Don

Have bad news

by fishfighter - 2012-09-11 09:09:45

Myself, I was a controlroom operator for a 600MW coal fire plant. Once I got my CRT-D, my company would not let me go back to my job due to have two generators within 30' of the controlroom. My company did offer me another job, but was/am to sick.

The good news is after being out of work for 6 months, I was able to get SSD, but I'm in complete CHF and I'm listed for a heart transplant. If he is unable to do what he did before, he could get on SSD and also retrain for a new job.

Magnet Mode

by PacerRep - 2012-09-12 01:09:07

Since you said he has a pacemaker I am going to assume it is a pacemaker only and does not have a defibrillator.

Lot's of good advice here, the only thing missing is what the device will do if the magnet interacts with the device.

Basically there is something called a reed switch inside the pacemaker and when it is open it allows the device to "see" the heart beating, or the sensing capabilities if you will. When a magnet is applied this reed switch closes and does not allow the device to see the heart and forces it to pace continuously at the magnet rate (different for each company but somewhere between 80-100ppm). It would be important for your husband to know how he feels during the magnet application if he is going to continue to be around these turbines.

At your next check ask the tech to apply a magnet and see if he can feel it. Many people can not tell a difference. If that is the case for your husband I would say much ado about nothing.

Now if he has a defibrillator or CRT-D unit, all bets are off. Magnets disable the device and if you were to have a ventricular arrhythmia that imposed a threat to his life, the device would be incapable of saving him.

But again, lots of good advice on here for you. I just wanted you to know what the behavior of the device would be if the magnet interacted with the pacemaker.

I tend to agree with don

by ElectricFrank - 2012-09-12 12:09:45

While most of us can just move away from the interfering source if we feel strange, we don't have to climb down a high tower to do it.

There needs to be more data on systems such as the turbines as to the strength, type (AC,DC), and when it is present. It's really an engineering problem rather than a legal one. (Not the way lawyers think though)

If we keep going the way we are most of the population is going to be bionic in some way, and it may be hard to find anyone qualified to work on our hi tech equipment.

frank

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