Merlin@home Transmitter set up questions

I am 21 and just got my first pacemaker 3 weeks ago tomorrow (wow time flies, I was still thinking it was 2 weeks ago). I got my St. Jude Merlin@home transmitter about a week ago but have been too overwhelmed to set it up. Now I have some questions about this.

My home phone is plugged into the xfinity modem in the living room but I am wondering does the transmitter phone jack need to be plugged in with the phone's jack? It came with a plug that holds two plugs then you plug that into the wall. There is a plug in for a phone jack right next to my bed but I don't have a phone in there and so does it need to be plugged in with the phone?

I tried plugging in the phone jack cord and the power cord into the wall and turned it on and it kept beeping and stayed on the picture that means its trying to contact the clinic. Does this have to happen when the office is open or did I not plug it in correctly?

How does the transmitter know what clinic to send all the info to? Is that just something thats programmed into the pacemaker?

If the phone needs to be plugged in with the transmitter do I need to call comcast to come out and switch those things around?

Does anyone else just use it once in a while to send in a "report" or does most everyone have it on every night to keep an eye on everything? That's what they want me to do

3 Comments

Merlin

by fishfighter - 2012-10-19 06:10:42

I have one and I have it set up in my TV room were I spend most of my time. In a 1 1/2 years, mine only went off three times. Was asked only two time to do the report. When doing that, it will call the number. One doesn't have to program a number.

The two plug jack is so you can plug a phone. No biggie and will not change anything. Only problem I could see happening is that if you were using the phone and your Merlin needed to send in a report I'm sure the merlin wouldn't work. No big deal. Like I said, it doesn't go off every day.

Over time you will forget that it is even there.

Oh!

by ReneeV2.0 - 2012-10-20 04:10:14

If it turns out you don't have a landline, you can request a wireless adapter for your transmitter. It plugs in that USB slot on the side. I'm not sure if there is a cost or anything, but its an option to look into :)

~ Renee

Welcome :)

by ReneeV2.0 - 2012-10-20 04:10:54

Hi! I am 31 and got a pm and the transmitter about 6 months ago. The DR is the one that requests the transmitter, so they set up all your info in the transmitter before its sent. I assume that because when I went for my 3 month checkup they said my transmitter sent an update a few days prior....and I never did anything besides plug it in.

From what I understand, every night your PM checks for abnormal issues (broken leads, arrhythmias, etc.) if there is nothing wrong, your PM does not transmit anything.

If something is wrong, it will send info to your transmitter, which will send the alert to your doctor. If you aren't near your transmitter, your PM will keep trying to send the information for 24 hours, so don't worry about not being home at an exact time. You're 21, you should be out having fun :)

In addition, every week or so your PM will send a status update to the doctors. They won't be alerted wont even look at it, but will have it if needed.


As far as the transmitter itself, it can plug into your phone jack, even if you don't have an actual phone there. You will need landline service though. What you should do is just take a regular phone, plug it into that jack and make sure it works. If you hear dial tone, your good. If you don't, you either don't have landline service (you might use VIOP instead) or you have a bad phone jack.


I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions... We're all here to help!!


~ Renee

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