Its just because he lives in our district. I definitely look forward to learning about it. We have already had it set up in dispatch so that when his address is typed in, they can alert us that its him. The paperwork that was sent to our fire station says he must be transported to Baylor Dallas, which would be an hour drive via ambulance. And I already know what's going to happen. We will get called out to him when its crappy weather and we can't get a helicopter. I have asked one of the medics that works the ambulance to ask the nurse in the case of bad weather, if we can transport him to the closest Baylor, or does he need to go all the way to Dallas.
do you wear medical id?
I'm definitely interested in the 911 protocol in place to revive LVAD patients. Please post it when you find it!
I would suggest a bracelet for ID. More likely to be noticed right away.
Thats the problem, not all hospitals have an LVAD program, and if it does it may not use "that" particular LVAD... mine is made by THORATEC called the
Heartmate ll.
I heard of stories that an LVAD patient from NYC needed assistance in Philly and that hospital didnt want to touch him dispite the fact that they were familiar with his LVAD... because of insurance purposes... his health rapidly declined and the hospital in philly did help him.
They recommend that an LVAD patient shouldnt be futher than 2 hours from the hospital he or she had surgery in. But folks with LVADs do travel by airplane car bus BUT its not recommended.
thanks
BTW I am trying to add a signature to my comments but i cant find where to add... do you? thanks
I'm wondering, what are providers supposed to do if they find an LVAD patient unresponsive and apneic?
Since they have no pulse, they could be in... arrest, as in their machine stopped working, and in that case, you are not supposed to compressions... so what, you just call it a day, pack up, and go home?
Many areas don't transport patients who code until they have a ROSC... since you have no pulse, period, a ROSC would be totally out of the question, wouldn't it?
And I really can't see the benefit outweigh the risk of rushing someone to the hospital, unable to circulate their blood, code 3, risking everyone else's lives for someone who may not come back as anything more than a vegetable due to anoxic brain injury from lack of circulation, especially considering some areas transport times where they can reach 10 minutes to over an hour.
Or would you risk compressions knowing you possibly could dislodge the device and cause a bleed?
Also, just an off topic pure curiosity question, if you can't get it wet does that mean you can't shower?
Those were the same questions I had (well, except for the shower thing! ). And cardiac drugs won't help, right, because the patient's heart is already effectively damaged beyond repair, or they wouldn't have the LVAD in the first place?
I think, unless I hear otherwise, that this would have to be something like c-spine compromise in a patient in cardiac arrest - wouldn't disloding the device be the lesser of two evils, as compared to not doing chest compressions? In a situation where the patient is apneic and unresponsive, at least. I suppose there is no danger of defibrilation, because if the patient's pump stops, they will be effectively asystolic.
Maybe as these devices become more common, we will start to be equipped with the proper tools to measure vital signs in LVAD patients - if they ever do become that common (look how common diabetes is - and most of the time EMT-Bs don't use glucometers).
Sorry I stole your question, i somehow missed it.