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Chainsaws and heart pacemakers, do they get along?

Started by Howdy, January 26, 2011, 01:54:59 PM

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Howdy

With my new pacemaker for my heart came a list of instructions advising me not to use a chainsaw.  Is this really a concern or is the manufacture just being overly cautious? My doctor didn't have an opinion about this when asked but advised me to follow the recommendation to cover his liability.

Does anyone else having a pacemaker still use a chainsaw, and what has your doctor advised?  Thanks.

QuintonAlame

I ain't quiet shire I thing first of all I you have heart problems you should avoid that kind of hard work ...... it it's in that paper its there for a reason just my 2 cents

Jeff

I know a fella that lives down the road from the cabin with a pace maker that told me that he can't run the chainsaw any longer because of that reason. Its got something to do with the leakage of current from the spark plug discharging on fire into your body.

I wouldn't do it.

He also told me the story of looking for the machine that was working down the road that kept going beep beep. Nobody but him after heard it. It aggravated him for a couple weeks trying to find where and what was making the noise. One night he went to the races with a couple friends and while riding home in the car, he heard the backup alarm type beeping again. This time his friends heard it too. Turns out it was his pacemakers low battery alarm. :)
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

beenthere

That is an interesting dilema.

A google search turned up

http://www.medtronic.com/rhythms/downloads/3071ENp6_Saws_online.pdf

Hinted about an electromagnetic field from the spark plug. Paralleled the chainsaw with an electric welder.

No answers, but wouldn't suggest that I'd like you to be the guinea pig either. Would take a brave man to test the warning.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

ErikC

Quote from: QuintonAlame on January 26, 2011, 02:14:52 PM
I ain't quiet shire I thing first of all I you have heart problems you should avoid that kind of hard work ...... it it's in that paper its there for a reason just my 2 cents


Electrical impulses aside, this is probably good advice, at least for some time until you fully recover. If you already haven't. :)
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

dutchman

My father-in law had a pacemaker put in about 18 months ago.
He started using his saw about 6 months after.
He no longer cuts alone, wants to be a little on the safe side.
Dr. told him he should not use a saw, because of spark plug.

John Mc

Pacemakers can be sensitive to Radio Frequency (RF) interference, which is why using a chainsaw can be a problem. One type of early radios was known as "spark gap generators". They jumped a spark across a gap (sound familiar?). This generated RF energy across a huge spectrum of frequencies... no need to tune the receiver, since the transmitter was going on just about every frequency. Some years ago, I stumbled across plan to make a spark gap generator transmitter from a spark plug, ignition coil, relay and a few other parts.

The spark plugs in cars are not generally a problem since they and the car/engine are designed to shield the RF interference. (If you ever pull up next to an antique car at a stoplight, it will probably wreak havoc on your radio.)

John Mc
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

sawguy21

If and when I get a pacemaker I'll hang up the saw and stick to piling. :D
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

mrcaptainbob

My cousin had a pace maker and was told to not jump start a car, and to not stand over a running engine with the hood up. The alternators would put out too much and set of the pace maker....he was VERY cautious about that and kept away from wrenching unless the engine was off.

John Mc

I'm surprised they don't make pacemakers shielded from RF interference (I suppose there must be some resistance to RF, but obviously not enough). There must be a good number of folks who work around equipment that could cause problems.

I hadn't heard of the hood up with the engine running warning, but imagine of you had trained and worked your whole life as an auto mechanic, and then needed a pacemaker...
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

Jeff

My guess for not shielding them is that once installed, they can be adjusted and calibrated as needed via either electro magnetic field or radio waves. The same things that admit from the things that they want you to stay away from with the spark type engines. 
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Al_Smith

I have no idea about pacemakers but can relate what I consider to be rather comical about a certain gent .

It seems this guy because of his life style wasn't praticularly condusive to good heart health he had damage in one of the valves .Off to Mayo clinic he goes to see about a fix .His options were either a valve from a pig which he didn't much care for or a mechanical contraption .More or less a high priced check valve .He got the check valve .

So years later while consuming vast quantities of lager he tells my ex wife about a problem this thing caused .At certain rather intiment moments while in the company of a young lady his old ticker clanked like a thrashing machine .Rather distracting he said considering the business at hand .My ex rolled on the floor from laughter . :D

weimedog

Quote from: Al_Smith on January 27, 2011, 08:40:09 AM
I have no idea about pacemakers but can relate what I consider to be rather comical about a certain gent .

It seems this guy because of his life style wasn't praticularly condusive to good heart health he had damage in one of the valves .Off to Mayo clinic he goes to see about a fix .His options were either a valve from a pig which he didn't much care for or a mechanical contraption .More or less a high priced check valve .He got the check valve .

So years later while consuming vast quantities of lager he tells my ex wife about a problem this thing caused .At certain rather intiment moments while in the company of a young lady his old ticker clanked like a thrashing machine .Rather distracting he said considering the business at hand .My ex rolled on the floor from laughter . :D

Now that's a funny story! Wonder if he ever told how it ended! Might be a chick magnet to see who could get the fastest clacks out of the old fart! So does a 11,000 rpm saw want the pacer to run the heart at 11,000 beats per minute? If you can't run chainsaw, what about things like weed whackers, lawn mowers..the riding kind where you are close to ignition parts, and motorcycles..especially the sport bikes where you are draped over the tank a foot from the top of that motor..with sometimes FOUR cylinders running 12K. Wonder if over time they shield those pacemakers.
Husqvarna 365sp/372xpw Blend, Jonsered 2171 51.4mm XPW build,562xp HTSS, 560 HTSS, 272XP, 61/272XP, 555, 257, 242, 238, Homelite S-XL 925, XP-1020A, Super XL (Dad's saw); Jonsered 2094, Three 920's, CS-2172, Solo 603; 3 Huztl MS660's (2 54mm and 1 56mm)

Al_Smith

 :D The guy was young at the time about 25  ..Actually his family owned string of funeral homes ,rich,rich,rich .This guy was rebel at the time working as a brick layer and concrete finisher .The last I saw him he was being a greeter at one of those establishments .When I mentioned the clacking heart he broke out laughing which is something not normally done under the circumstances . I sometimes worry that I bring out the worst in people and dogs . :D

loggit

My father (when in his 80's) had a defibrillator put in and afterwards was told not to run a chainsaw and even his ham radio. Having run a chainsaw most of his life and being an avid ham radio buff, he told me he wouldn't have had the thing put in if they told him this first.

I believe it was the magnetic field they were concerned with messing up the defibrillator. Anyway he said he was still going to run a saw so he told me to come over while he did just in case he keeled over. Well he ran that saw for two years, played on his ham radio, all with no ill effects. That's our experience, better to not try it solo.

What was I going to tell someone in their 80's .... He was a good man, wish I had just one more day with him. 




JohnG28

How about looking up one of those diesel chainsaws someone had been talking about here.  Course the fumes might kill ya but no spark plug to worry about.   ;)
Stihl MS361, 460 & 200T, Jonsered 490, Jonsereds 90, Husky 350 & 142, Homelite XL and Super XL

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