Hospital Accommodations of Electrically Hypersensitive Patients in Sweden

Sweden is one of the first countries in the world to start recognizing electrical hypersensitivity (EHS) as a legitimate functional handicap. One of the fundamental issues facing people with EHS is access to medical facilities. In 2007, the Swedish organization for EHS patients surveyed the different regions of the country to see how accommodations were progressing. This English-language document is a compilation of the responses they received, which lists a total of eight Swedish hospitals that provide facilities suitable for EHS patients. Sweden has a population of eight million.

Keywords: electrical hypersensitivity, EHS, hospital, medical facility, built environment, accommodation

Kalmar Hospital (Kalmar län)

The recently built hospital building number 18 has 25 percent of the treatment rooms designed as shielded. One of the treatment rooms can be made completely free of any electricity as well. In all construction and renovation throughout the hospital, special considerations are made in the choice of wiring and location of electrical installations to reduce the overall radiation level everywhere in the hospital.

Karlstad Hospital (Värmland)

One consultation room in the infectious disease clinic has been renovated for lower radiation. The room has a door directly to the outside, so patients can enter without having to go through the entire building. The room is located at the very end of the building and already had a relatively low level of radiation before renovations. The room was up for renovation anyway, which made modifications simpler. To further reduce the level of radio frequency radiation, a fine mesh of copper (max 2 mm) was embedded in the walls while they were being stuccoed. The stucco used was a special conducting type, which will dampen any standing waves inside the copper shield. One outer wall was shielded using only the conducting stucco. Shielding glass was used for the windows in the wall and the doors. The doors were shielded with steel, and the door frames were changed to steel as well.

The doors, door frames, windows and walls are all in excellent electrical contact with each other along their edges, so they together provide a complete enclosure (presumably the ceiling and perhaps the floor have shielding too?). This enclosure is grounded in a single point (presumably using a separate ground rod).

Lycksele Hospital (Västerbotton)

Rooms with low radiation levels have been identified for use with EHS patients.

Ryhov Hospital (Jönköping)

This hospital has one modified treatment room, which also can be reserved by outside doctors. There is also a wood-framed bed available for use by metal-sensitive patients.

Skellefteå Hospital (Västerbotton)

There are three electrically modified rooms available at this hospital, one at the emergency room, one in surgery and an isolation room. A shielding canopy is also available to mount over a bed, to reduce the radio frequency radiation level around a patient. This canopy is available to the other hospitals in the region (i.e. Umeå and Lycksele).

Sundsvall Hospital (Västernorrland)

The letter only stated that this hospital had a room that meets the needs of EHS patients.

Umeå Hospital (Västerbotten)

Four rooms have been modified to accommodate EHS patients: one each at the emergency room, infectious diseases, surgery and intensive care departments.

Örebro (Örebro län)

The local government says there are specially modified rooms available in Örebro, but does not state where they are. They are presumably at either the Örebro University Hospital or the clinic for environmental medicine, or both, as their ability to work with EHS patients is mentioned in some detail.

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This document was compiled from copies of letters from six Swedish regions. The copies were kindly provided by El-Överkansligas Riksförbund, the Swedish EHS organization. All documents were dated May, June or October 2007.