Mobility scooters

Scooters? Ride 'em, Cowboy!

by Gotrhythm - 2017-08-21 14:15:04

I have a scooter--mainly to make trips with a lot of walking doable for me.

Unless your pacemaker is located in your rear end, or you ride the scooter with your legs dangling over the handle bars and your chest on the seat, I can't imagine how your pacemaker would ever come near enough to the battery to cause a problem.

Kidding aside, put worries about electrical interference out of your mind. That was a problem 40 years ago, maybe, but not now. Today's pacemakers are very well shielded, and electrical/battery operated machine manufacturerers know millions of people all over the world have pacemakers. Pretty much everything the average, unsuspecting person could encounter is safe.

Enjoy the freedom of your new scooter.

scooters

by seagull - 2017-08-21 14:48:49

Hey ,thats funny,thanks for the advice,i suppose you can tell that its not been so long since a pm was required.its just getting the hang of it,scooter is not really required as much for the heart ,but i also have other issues stopping me from walking,So again thankyou.

Glad you got the joke

by Gotrhythm - 2017-08-21 15:30:50

You did the right thing to ask. I hope you didn't think I was making fun of you. It's just that the rule of thumb for safety with electrical/battery operated machines is to keep the motor/battery at least 6 inches from the pacemaker. The mental picture of the contortions needed to get anywhere near the battery on a scooter was just too funny.

But in fact, most of us ignore the rule with no ill effects. Still, it's good to know that in the unlikely event that you ever did experience interference, all you have to do to be safe is move away a couple of inches.

Interference won't "break" or damage your pacemaker in any way. The absolute worst that could happen would be that the current programming would be lost and the machine would return to its default factory settings, but it would still work.

Having a tiny computer implanted in the chest takes some adjustment. You're not alone. Please ask any questions. Someone here ususally knows. And, most of the time, you won't get a 'smart' answer. :-)