title: Prehospital care of left ventricular assist device patients by emergency medical services.
abstract: Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are frequently implanted as permanent (bridge to destination [BTD]) or temporary (bridge to transplantation [BTT]) cardiac support. When LVAD patients are discharged to home, they are very likely to require emergency medical services (EMS), but there is very little literature on out-of-hospital emergency care for patients with LVADs. We present two typical cases of LVAD patients for whom EMS was called. In the first case, the patient was in an ambulance two hours distant from our university hospital when a pulsatile system malfunctioned. In the second case, EMS was called to an unconscious LVAD patient. Emergency reference cards, training programs for emergency medical staff, and a 24-hour emergency hotline for the local VAD team are advisable.
authors: Department of Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. martin.schweiger@klinikum-graz.at
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Schweiger
authors: Juliane
authors: J
authors: Vierecke
authors: Phillip
authors: P
authors: Stiegler
authors: Günter
authors: G
authors: Prenner
authors: Karl Heinz
authors: KH
authors: Tscheliessnigg
authors: Andre
authors: A
authors: Wasler
mesh_terms: D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000628:therapy*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged