Hi there,
I am new to the site but have had a twin lead pacemaker fitted already and placed on beta blockers as well since April this year for sick synus syndrome, I must admit that since this was done I feel great.
The problem starts at work.
Where I work employees have to enter and leave via a small room with two large scanner detector bars, a lot like you find in the supermarkets. The room is about 8 foot by 12 foot and is entered and exited by electric operated doors.
Since I first entered this area on my return to work, within a short time the symptoms I suffered before I had the pacemaker fitted returned, something I thought I had now got rid of.
The instructions given are to walk straight through these devices in supermarkets and do not linger, but I can not do this at work because of two seperste singly operated electronic doors in an unventilated area.
I have now myself made the decision to enter and leave via another entrance as I feel they do not care for health of their employees. Since then my employer has given so much aggrovation over this, to the extent of taking it upon themselves to arrange a scientific/medical test, [without my initial consent], taking a couple of hours to see if the pacemaker is affected. Needless to say the pacemaker is NOT affected. I have been trying to explain this from the onset. It affects my symptoms instead.
I have read very little on the amount of the emisions of electromagnetism allowed in such a small area, and all write ups only indicate what will and will not affect a pacemaker, nowhere have I found any reference to the effect on the symptoms which could be affected. After the test I was suffering for almost 45 hours. It makes me feel that it was a waste of time having the pacemaker with this work situation. Why do employers think they know better than the pacemaker wearer, and why do they not listen?
I think it is a case of, if an employer can not see the problem you do not have one, or even to the point of get rid of the person, get rid of the problem.
Has anybody else suffered from employers in this way, and why are there no write - ups on the symptoms that may return?
I think after the amount of pacemakers that are fitted each year, that they should be recognised as a medical problem / situation, and leave us alone to return to normal work as quick as possible.
I know this sounds like a winge, but as I said, I am new to the site and need to start somewhere.

John

 

 

Do you live in a right to work state?.......Do you love your job? ( Iknow you need it)...but do you want to stay there and retire??.if not, you have grounds for a lawsuit and may become very wealthy, hire a lawyer and sue them..................good luck..........

 

Welcome to the site! I'm sorry you're having problems at work. You'd think seeing the instructions in the manual would get through to them that you need another way to enter the building.

These barriers do not damage the pm. What they do is temporarily put it in test mode like when we have it checked. It has a little switch inside and magnets pull the switch closed and change the mode. As soon as we get away from the interference, the switch opens again and it returns to normal function with no harm done. Did you discuss with your dr why you might have felt so bad for so long after? Because you should have felt ok again as soon as you got away from the device.

 

I have to agree with Zombie. Hire a lawyer and sue them. That is unacceptable that they won't listen to you and are not taking your well being as a priority. Welcome, all the best to you and good luck.

 

Yep I know these little rooms well, similar jobs methinks!

Well, at my establishment I was given the option to go through another door, one lorries go through, but it was such a hassle I decided against it. My employers also checked the safety out and came back and told me there was no risk.

What I usually do is go through the first set of electronic doors, keep away from the magnetic bars, then wait until the other doors open and jump through them as fast as poss. Everyone on the gate knows why I do it so I dont get any funny looks.

Just beware of what you may be carrying around with you all day which have magnets in them!!!!!

 

Hello DD,

I say follow the advice you got in some of the comments and call a lawyer. However before picking up that phone you should probably line up another job. You get a lawyer and the company probably already has a bunch of lawyers on staff or retainer for such problems. So while they may not be able to terminate you for this specific problem, don't you ever think they can't come up with other reasons later, when the dust has settled, and do just that. See if you can't have a reasonable conversation with them about the problem and workout a solution without bringing in the lawyers.

If there was anything in that room that was affecting your pacemaker it should feel like it does when they put the magnet over it during a check up and within a minute or two, at the most, the pacemaker would return to normal operation after you left that area. You most certainly would not continue to have pacemaker related symptoms for 45 hours unless that pacemaker was totally screwed up to the point you would have to take it to some one to reset all settings, or possibly replace it.

Now I'm going to be honest with you. If electronic devices in the room where you enter or exit are not bothering your pacemaker, the problem must not be pacemaker related. What are these symptoms you are talking about? Is it chest pain. palpitations, shortness of breath or what. Also did you have these symptoms when going through this room before you got your pacemaker?

I'm not trying to be critical, but from what you have said, I can't see how the pacemaker even comes into the picture, except you may not have needed one, which is the case far too often for too many people that get one.

Good luck,

Smitty

 

& as I mentioned recently to someone else,
I'd google the American with Disability Act & the Family Medical Leave Program to be prepared with your rights.

Good luck,

Janet

 

& as I mentioned recently to someone else,
I'd google the American with Disability Act & the Family Medical Leave Program to be prepared with your rights.

Good luck,

Janet

 

If they actually checked the pacemaker operation in the electromagnetic field and it was not affected then this can be ruled out.

You say only your symptoms are affected. I'm not sure what you mean by this. It sounds more like an anxiety attack

Just be careful about going after your company or boss on such shaky ground. You could find yourself out of a job.

frank

 

Doubtful that your pm is doing this. Have you asked your doctor about the episodes? I wasnt going to type this but one wonders with all the people that jump at calling a lawyer to sue is alot of the problem with this country today, sue sue sue it just amazes me and we wonder why all the problems. Im sorry not trying to make anyone mad or quell something that may have to be done but, this is the first thing that pops into someones mind call a lawyer. Talk to your doctor first would be my advice, and have you talked to your employer before you took it upon yourself to deviate from company policy??? Just my two cents.
dave

 

Frank is correct, have all your ducks in a row before screaming lawsuit......But from your post ,they had their "OWN" independent study done, has Medtronics , Boston Scientific, or St.Jude, or any 3rd party independent study been done about this before? Yes. that is why it is everyone of our manuals. Can you afford to pay for a pacemaker electromagnteic field test to be done in your job situation? I didn't think so.... All the manuals say stay away from electromagentic fields......the manuals do not say, let your employer decide......and, I didn't mean go to your boss, screaming lawsuit.....and of course have a back up plan, I myself live with atleast 2 backup plans.....

And yes I live in Florida and you can be fired for "FARTING"......This is a right to work state, I ran my friend of 15 years Construction Co. for the last 4 yrs. making close to $200K a yr., then the doc. said three letters......SCD (Sudden Cardiac Death)........ "friend or not" he said, then he let me go, he blamed the economy, but told me off the record, he didn't want me dying on one of his jobs..then said here and handed me a check for $3,000 severance to use for doctor bills, and said goodbye........He no longer recieves Christmas cards...

 

Hi D.D. I'm fairly new here too, so I'm curious as to how I will feel when I go back to work too - when you say symptoms I was wondering if you mean the shortness of breath and palpitations or funny heart beat. Before my implant I fount that I would have these symptoms more often in my office where there is poor air circulation, and my understanding is that when the carbon monoxide is high in an area it can cause the heart to struggle to efficiently get what oxygen it can throughout the body. My brother who is familiar with construction told me that secured buildings sometimes reduce outside air flow into the building with the notion that it will protect against possible outside bio attacks (I'm simplifying the explanation here to keep it brief), thus the higher concentration of carbon monoxide. For people without heart problems, respiratory issues, or anemia this will only make them a little sleepy or yawn, but for folks like us we will experience shortness of breath etc. My brother suggested to me to talk to the doctor about getting a portable oxygen concentrator machine if I still have symptoms when I go back to work, so your question concerned me in that you may want to see if that might be the problem vs. the electromagnet barrier affecting the PM. Just a thought - hope this helps or sparks conversation about it.