LVAD... Left Ventricular Assist Device

THIS BLOG POWERED BY THE THORATEC HEARTMATE II LVAD:















PARTIAL HEART PUMP = LEFT VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE = LVAD = THE HEARTMATE II



THE LVAD ALLOWED ME to go HOME and conquer my normal and newest tasks once again.



Thank you Columbia-Presbyterian... Dr Naka and his Surgery Team, LVAD Nation, Dr Bijou & Dr Bonoan, Dr Mascitelli and Dr Shulman-Marcus!!!



AND TO THE SCORES OF PHYSICIANS, NURSES, PROFESSIONALS AND PEOPLE THAT PUSHED ME ALONG THE WAY... FORWARD.



Thank You God For I Am Blessed!







If I Was An LVAD-NASCAR Race CAR

If I Was An LVAD-NASCAR Race CAR
I would look like this :-)

FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY LVAD DAILY NEWS AND INFO FEED

21 March 2010

LVAD AWARENESS for Paramedics/EMT/EMS Ambulance Companies. 911 PROTOCOL?


Currently i am visiting online emergency services forums. Most are unaware of how to treat an LVAD patient. They do not know that LVAD recipients do not have a pulse or a "readable" blood pressure. However, they are all eager to learn.


The Heartmate ll made by THORATEC is the first CONTINUOUS FLOW DEVICE. It has only one moving part making it more reliable. Since it is a continuous flow design, the blood is in constant flow as opposed to the native heart beating that creates the pulse. The Heartmate ll is approved by the FDA for use in the USA for Bridge To Transplant (BTT) and Destination Therapy (DT) patients.


THE SCENARIO:

A 911 call is made from a cell phone at a mall. A male patient collapses and seems too sluggish to move. An ambulance is immediately dispatched to the location. The paramedics arrive and find the patient sitting on the floor with his wife by his side. The male patient is conscious and answers the questions the paramedics ask.

He states he became dizzy and passed out. The patient continues to say that he has a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implanted and grafted to his heart. The LVAD helps pump oxygen-enriched blood that his damaged heart can not do. The male patient also claims that due to the design of the LVAD, basic equipment WILL NOT detect his Blood Pressure nor Pulse.


Only special Doppler equipment will detect his vitals.

It appears that the patient has lost color and is sweating. What next? There is a titanium heart/blood pump implanted to his heart. If needed, are chest compressions dangerous for this patient? The answer is YES! It can cause the LVAD to dislodge from the heart and the patient can internally bleed.

I am a 47 yo male with an LVAD implant. I DON'T HAVE the conventionally found Blood Pressure and I do not have a Pulse, However I am alive and well and I am trying to raise awareness of 911/EMT/LVAD PROTOCOL and to obtain more info from the experts on how to spread this crucial topic. It is predicted that the LVAD will be as common as dialysis.

So it is imperative that our 1st responders should be "user-friendly" with LVAD recipients especially when most LVAD recipients are leading mobile and normal lives.

Thank you

and the good saga continues...

9 comments:

  1. I just wanted to thank you for giving information to paramedics, emt, ems ambulance companies and 911. Many years ago, when dialysis was still new, I had to call 911 for my husband who was on dialysis. When they arrived it was quite obvious they did not know anything about how to deal with a dialysis patient or a patient that was on dialysis at the time. This information on LVAD is so helpful and important and can save a life. THANKS.

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  2. Thanks... further conversations on this can be found here:
    http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=17432&page=7

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  3. I think it is really good that you are using your situation to help others. So far in nursing school an at CPR classes they have not taught us that giving a patient chest compressions if they have an LVAD is a no-no. This is also really good information for me since a lot of my "heart" friends waiting for a transplant have an LVAD.

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  4. Thanks for that Lennie... many nurses we come across have not heard of an LVAD yet... so Hospitals and health centers, educational institutions... that do not have an LVAD program should at least start informing their staff that the technologiy is out there... but it will evolve one day soon. The positive effects of the LVAD speaks for itself!

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  5. I am a firefighter in the Bay Area (CA). Today while shopping with the engine crew, we were stopped by a lady in the store who started to explain to us that she is a recent recipient of an LVAD device. None of us were aware of the special considerations to be taken into account when we respond to an LVAD patient. I am glad that your website came up on google when I entered LVAD. You have good info here and I will forward this onto my counterparts.

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  6. I'm a critical care paramedic in the Detroit area and work for a private service. Thankfully my employer and the main hospital we serve are deidcated to educating us about LVAD. I was looking for more info on my own and came across your page. Very well done. I appreciate what you are doing. Keep up the good work. I too will pass this site on to my peers.

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  7. where can I chat or get into contact with LVAD recipients ??

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  8. FACEBOOK :-)! put LVAD in FB search bar and you will find LVAD groups and communities

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