We in the States have read that CROCS (those wonderful, so popular, colorful shoes) are now banned in NICUs in Sweden because of the static electricity they generate. Can anyone elaborate on this decision and give specific examples of equipment malfunction? I wonder if they could in any way be related to the fire in the NICU in Minnesota where a baby in oxyhood was severely burned?

This webiste is related to Crocs.

www.j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/post/crocs_banned/

Joanne Ridky, R.N., M.A.

Hi!

Crocs (and cheap copies) are very popular in Sweden, as you probably know it was Swede Peter "Foppa" Forsberg, former NHL hockey player, who was/is (?) involved in the Crocs company. They are colled Foppa-slippers in Sweden.

There was one report last spring from Norway that an apparatus for light therapy was short-cut, and one report from the southern part of Sweden that a CPAP-device stopped working. The cause was said to be static electricity generated in the person wearing Foppa-slippers (25.000 volts )

The Karolinska University Hospital banned Crocs last spring, but if I recall it correctly, the ban was lifted some months later.

I found those links at the news magazine Medicine Today (in Swedish unfortunately...)

http://www.dagensmedicin.se/nyheter/2007/03/20/plasttofflor-orsakar-norsk/

http://www.dagensmedicin.se/nyheter/2007/04/17/krav-att-tofflor-stoppas-e/

http://www.dagensmedicin.se/nyheter/2007/04/27/karolinska-forbjuder-foppa/

Hi I realize this post is almost a year old, but I wanted to share this.

Our hospital has recently banned crocs on all units not for the reasons mentioned, but because of a dramatic increase in falls among staff wearing them. There was one case in which a nurse, who was rushing to a code, fell when her feet slipped out of her crocs. She ended up with a very badly fractured leg. This was just one of many cases linked to crocs.

Thanks

Hi I realize this post is almost a year old, but I wanted to share this.

Our hospital has recently banned crocs on all units not for the reasons mentioned, but because of a dramatic increase in falls among staff wearing them. There was one case in which a nurse, who was rushing to a code, fell when her feet slipped out of her crocs. She ended up with a very badly fractured leg. This was just one of many cases linked to crocs.

Thanks

...Our hospital has recently banned crocs on all units not for the reasons mentioned, but because of a dramatic increase in falls among staff wearing them...

I bought a pair of crocs for home use, and thanks to your post I feel confident about my first impression (that people disagreed with) - these footwear sticks to the floor! I guess they are better for outside use, where the surface is not completely flat. My son has a pair (for outside use) and he likes them a lot.

..ALL shoes produce static when rubbed on carpet. Something to think about...

I have a pair of "anti-static"plastic clogs, and I still feel like a wizard!

I switch between my Crocs and Merrils at work and I do find that I trip and shock myself a whole lot more in the crocs. But, I am also one of those people who kind of shuffles around anyway, so it could be due to my walking style. Crocs aren't banned at my hospital, but they are somewhat discouraged since the holes in the top allow random bodily fluids and baby juices in. I wear the fleece lined ones though so I don't worry about it as much.