Gizmodo
And the Lord came to Dr. Daniel Low and told him: "Praise the iPhone, for it can make your calls, get your mail, play your music, browse the web, and now help kids go to surgery without having to use sedatives to calm them down!" And the Lord—who looked remarkably like this guy— gave him one, and then he took it to the kids at the Seattle Children's Hospital, where he raised it up on high, saying: "first, shalt thou watch the videos. Then shalt thou calm the hell down, no more, no less." And the children calmed down, and he saw it was good. So good, in fact, that he has used it for six months with 450 children, reducing the use of drugs by 85%. But how does it work?
And the Lord came to Dr. Daniel Low and told him: "Praise the iPhone, for it can make your calls, get your mail, play your music, browse the web, and now help kids go to surgery without having to use sedatives to calm them down!" And the Lord—who looked remarkably like Getting children to the operating room is extremely scary for them (and us too), so they usually have to be sedated to calm them down. Dr. Low observed that by watching some videos on the iPhone, his kids got completely disconnected from the outside world. He thought that this effect could help children in the hospital get distracted—especially when they leave the room where they wait with their parents—so he gave it a try.
It worked. And for six months, he has used this method with 450 children, reducing the use of sedatives by 85%. The benefit not only makes the children a little bit less nervous: without sedatives, kids wake up smoother and are less drowsy after the operation, so they can get back home more quickly.
Of course, this can be done with any video playing device, but Dr. Low seems to believe that the iPhone is perfect for the job, arguing that it doesn't interfere with the equipment and can be easily sanitized. We are sure that the same can be said about other personal media players, but whatever helps kids is fine with us. [King5]
Comments
BLah!
There was a previous study like this, involving the Gameboy. Kids were more relaxed pre-op if they played GB...even more than if their parents were there to comform them.
what ever happened to a good ol' fashioned sleeperhold?
@TheTick:
Gameboy = Old Testament
JesusPhone = New Testament
Amen.
Remember the guy at the carnival who pokes things through his arms and tongue? He's doing the same thing: the power of concentration and distraction can do amazing things to the level of pain that you feel.
Once again, science is "discovering" something that we knew all along...
ROFL
just hook up a PS3 and Xbox 360. end of story!
Why would you want to avoid sedatives? I thought people played video games and used iPhones because they couldn't get sedatives, not the other way around
Just wants to keep getting free stuff from apple.
He'll probablly want a $3,000 Macbook, 'cause "the music that comes from it's speakers relaxes the patients"
My iPhone has the same effect on the ladies.
@92BuickLeSabre:
Wiser words were never spoken. I just wish it had the same calming effect on angered partners...
"here honey, watch this" [sneaks off to be with the guys]
Wait, you have to sedate them before you knock them out?
Why not just knock them out?
I'm confused.
@xcharliemx:
it sedates them? that's not the iphone, my friend; that's the roofies.
Wait until I come out with the "Moses" phone!
It'll conquer mass armies and spread vast seas!
**looks up to avoid any lightening strikes**
WHEW!
@Dunny0: sedation avoids the "Noooooo I want my mommy!"
Usually it's lithium, well thats from what I know.
@92BuickLeSabre: haha, so true.
@OG512: Moses phone has 4G, communicates with god, and then gets pissed at you when it catches you fucking around in your room, and then makes you piece together two broken stone tablets and then you have to wander for 40 years in an Arizona desert. Now that's a contract that I will not be buying into.
This works because Steve Jobs sprinkles every iPhone with a little bit of his own personal holiness.
@OG512: So, will the Moses phone come with a stylus that looks like a wooden staff?
Leave it to Apple to create a product capable of being sanitized according to hospital standards...
Shouldn't he be using an iPod Touch? Costs less, smaller, bigger storage, and no CDMA interference with their sensitive, life-saving, medical widgets.
It even has less buttons, so its, um, sleeker.
But yeah, any decent PMP will do this afaict.
@ludwigk: To answer my own question, it might be because the iPhone has a built-in speaker, and the iPod Touch don't.
Todays surgery brought to you by Apple, and the letter 'i'...I can see the sponsors lining up now, surgery blankets provided by L.L. Bean, surgeons gowns provided by Nike, we've just solved the healthcare crisis in this country!!!
@bucho54: It will look like a wooden staff, but when you're not expecting it...it will turn into a snake!
@atuck: LOL
As a future med student, I guess this means that the hospital should write off my 3G iPhone as a necessary healthcare expenditure! AWESOME!
I'm sure I'd be in the 15 percent who still needed a sedative even after they got to play with the iPhone. Needle sticks make me faint.
Cool idea, though.
@bucho54:
No, but I hear Moto is going to launch the "Golden Calf" for all the Apple haters out there.
@Clare: A Phillies fan eh? Me too haha......nice to see a fellow phils fan
@OG512: If you think PS3 and XBox are relaxing, try watching some mofos playing Halo. See how sedate that shit gets.
just like my vet, he gives the treat to the dog and at same time he gives the shots, distract the patient to give the
meds.
This is really nothing new is it? My dentist has various game systems in his waiting room and TVs with satellite and DVD players (bring your own DVD) in the consult rooms. The combination calms down kids and denta-phobes a lot.
I don't mean to knock the article, but I thought in the medical community this was "common knowledge." Not being in the medical community, I have no idea what is common knowledge, so I don't mean this as a rhetorical question or being a snarky know-it-all.
"But how does it work?"
The iPhone is about the right size and heft for a kid-sized brick, and you know, people calm right down when you smack them on the head with a brick...
@Dunny0: Knock them out? Ooooh! That makes more sense. I thought they're using the iPhone in place of general anaesthesia.
@makanai:
It's common knowledge within most younger docs/nurses...it's the old timers that poo poo this for one reason or another.
My dentist had one of those eyeglass LCD things hooked up to a portable DVD player back in 2003, but I doubt most docs could figure out how to plug the A/V out on a DVD player to the glasses... Plus they'd send it in for warranty work every time the batteries died lol.
@DeCerbo: HAH!! give this man a star.
My kids would take that iPhone and shove it up the doctor's [insert favorite spot here].
In all seriousness, this is a good idea, although the concept of distracting kids has been around for as long as there have been kids. Whether it be with candy, cards, TV show, or iPhone, ultimately it all (hopefully) has the same result.
Obviously this needn't be an iPhone by any stretch of the imagination; however, it might be relevant in light of the fact that one (e.g., the doc) might always have an iPhone handy by virtue of it being a (i)Phone, compared to other devices.
I know that I don't carry around my PSP just for that moment I need to have my kid shut the F up for a minute or two, but I certainly have my iPhone handy at all times. And indeed, my iPhone is coming in handy more and more frequently in the recent months for just this purpose with my 4.5 yr old son (in the car, at the doctor's waiting room, etc.)
@92BuickLeSabre:
[tbn0.google.com]
Coleco Pocket Quarterback: Old Testiment
Gameboy: New Testament
JesusPhone: Armageddon/Anti-Christ
I have to say the kid getting knocked out was freeking creepy looking. Like "look at the iPhone, shiny! GAAAAHHHH DEATH POISEN!"
@xcharliemx:
so you dont have to sedate them before you take them back to your place?
smooth
docs know distracting kids has this effect, its just finding something LOTS of kids like without having a toy store in the office. They probably also like it because its "the iphone" and get to hold it, which is different than "just a DVD player". I bet half the effect is just buzz from holding something even their parents probably dont get to use.
wait... we're praising someone for distributing copyrighted content to 450 people?
(shhh)
Personally, I'm actually waiting for the JesusDiazPhone. Better looking interface, more compelling content, much cheaper.
and visual voicemail, of course.
@atuck: Well, that the MosesPhone makes you wander in the desert for 40 years tells you one thing: It too has no GPS capability.
Not wanting sedatives? So that's what's wrong with kids these days!
this is ridiculously awesome
just give em w33d.. that will calm them down muy bueno w/o having to soil your fingers with iShit
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