Pacemaker Club: Quick questions...

Quick questions...

by TITLE
2012-05-30 09:05:00
ICDs
1430 views
3 comments

Does a PM/ICD beep prior to releasing a shock? Do they ever "talk" to you in the sense of a verbal warning etc.? I can just picture/hear a muffled voice coming from my chest! Ha!
Thanks,
Rick

3 Comments

don't think so

by Tracey_E - 2012-05-31 06:05:11

I've never heard of it doing that.

Does an ICD pre beep?

by mrag - 2012-06-03 03:06:39

And the answer is, it can. I can speak for Boston Scientific's CRT-d although I think they all have the 'feature.' When your device begins to charge to 'deliver therapy' it can give you a short beeping sound for about 7-10 seconds BEFORE a shock MAY be delivered. That's one of the issues, you might hear a beep, but you may recover and not get shocked. You can imagine after a while, just hearing a beep might become traumatic. My EP also said hearing the beep AND getting a shock intensifies the perception of the 'kick' if you do get shocked. I'm not sure that is a big deal. I do not know of anyone that actually has the 'beep' alert function activated. I inquired about it because I was concerned driving on the highway, I wanted some chance to get off the road. I understand some people like professional roofers also have a interest in this option.

It's Crazy.

by familyliving - 2012-06-04 04:06:55

I have heard of the same as mrag, however never activated on my own. It will beep when the battery gets low and my physician said at one point it may "whirl" every so often. I know at one point I could hear a faint tone in mine, but nothing ever came of it and I have a different device since then.