[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 29, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             INTRODUCTION OF THE CRITICAL CARE SPECTRUM ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 29, 1999

  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Critical Care 
Spectrum Act, which will benefit victims of heart failure and strokes 
by ensuring appropriate broadcast spectrum for medical telemetry 
devices. I have been working closely with hospitals, medical equipment 
manufacturers, health care providers, broadcasters, patients and other 
users of the broadcast spectrum to achieve the legislation introduced 
today. I am especially grateful for the guidance and assistance I have 
received.
  Medical telemetry devices have allowed greater care for victims of 
heart failure and strokes. These devices send a signal, using part of 
the allocated broadcast spectrum, from a monitoring device attached to 
a patient to a central receiving point where the data can be viewed by 
medical personnel. Doctors and health care workers tell me that these 
devices are essential to the delivery of quality health care because 
they provide instant information about a patient and can warn doctors 
before medical problems become too severe to treat.
  In recent years, the broadcast spectrum has become crowded with 
wireless communications, satellite broadcast transmissions, and the 
growing number of radio and television stations. As a result of the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996, the spectrum has become even more 
cluttered, due to the requirement for television stations to change to 
digital broadcasts. While stations make plans to move to the new 
digital spectrum, they retain their analog broadcasts, and take up more 
of the spectrum than they require. The increasing number of broadcast 
channels has given consumers a variety of programming choices to choose 
from, but has also posed an indirect threat to medical telemetry 
devices, some of which use the same broadcast spectrum.
  Last year in Dallas, when a television station switched on to a 
digital broadcast, it knocked out the telemetry devices in Baylor 
University Medical Center. We were lucky that no significant injuries 
occurred, and the television station in Dallas should be commended for 
taking the station off the air as soon as they were made aware of the 
problem. This event served as a wake up call to medical telemetry 
device manufacturers and broadcasters alike. The Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC) issued advisories to stations that were planning to 
switch over to a digital broadcast. The advisories have been very 
helpful, and broadcasters have been working with local health care 
facilities to make sure the Dallas situation does not happen again.
  In my home state, I recently learned about the precautions that were 
taken when KOMO-TV, Channel 4, switched over to a digital broadcast. 
KOMO was in constant communication with all health care facilities in 
the broadcast area, and had technical representatives on hand in each 
of the facilities to make sure that no medical telemetry devices were 
impacted. KOMO, KING-TV and KCTS in Seattle have all switched to 
digital broadcasts. They have shown exceptional leadership and 
community concern with regard to this issue, and I am grateful not only 
for their concern, but for their assistance through the Washington 
State Broadcasters Association with the introduction of this 
legislation.
  We can't expect this success to continue without defining which areas 
of the spectrum should be reserved for medical telemetry devices. As 
more and more stations flip the switch and go digital, the spectrum 
gets more and more crowded.
  Medical telemetry manufacturers have been aggressive in solving this 
problem too. Spacelabs Medical, located in my Congressional District in 
Redmond, Washington, has been working closely with the American 
Hospital Association, the FCC and the Joint Working Group on 
Telemedicine to reach a solution to this problem. I look forward to 
working with all parties on a resolution to this issue.
  Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following 
groups who have been so helpful in crafting this legislation. They 
include Spacelabs Medical, the American Hospital Association, the 
Washington Hospital Association, Evergreen Hospital, Harborview Medical 
Center, the Joint Working Group on Telemedicine, Hewlett-Packard, the 
Washington Association of Broadcasters, Western Wireless, AT&T 
Wireless, PhRMA, American Home Products and countless others.
  I urge my colleagues to join me by cosponsoring the Critical Care 
Spectrum Act of 1999.

                          ____________________