Recall for faulty equipment. Mine included!
07-24-2009, 03:46 PM
#1
Recall for faulty equipment. Mine included!
I wonder how these big companies can put products on the market without proper testing. I have had recalls on cars i owned before but never one like this.
We got a letter that the wire leads going to my heart from my defribulator are on factory recall. The problem is they fracture over time and the cracks in the leads send a false reading to the defribulator. The defribulator thinks the person is going into cardiac arrest and it shocks the heart!
They said in several of the ones that had these problems would go off continuously until the person was brought to the hospital which is the only way to turn it off.
I have been shocked twice since i have this thing, both on the boat when by myself and the shock is like nothing you ever felt before. The first shock surprises the crap out of you and makes you think you touched an open circuit and got shocked. The 2nd one which is 30 seconds later is twice as strong as the first and I can only describe it by saying it feels like you were kicked by a horse in the chest. The 3rd zapp, again stronger, basically knocks you off your feet! Just like on tv when the doctor says "CLEAR" and the person bounces off the 12" off the floor. The 4th which I only experienced one time was like getting hit by a semi doing 80.
You can hear the electrical "CRACK" through your whole body that sounds like an explosion that only you can hear. It feels like a lightning strike right next to you. Besides the pain, your also scared to death that you are going to die. Your going into cardiac arrest so your not sure what's going to happen.
I remember staying perfectly still in between shocks trying to slow my heart rate down, praying to God it won't go off again while your begging for your life!
The next day every joint in everyone of your toes is in agony. Everything hurts. But as bad as it hurts your the most grateful person on earth as you know what the alternative would have been.
I could not imagine having the defibulator go off and continue to go off with out it stopping. I think at that point you would want to die.
This has been a year of hell worring about this recall. i gave up flying in fear of the defribulator going off while in the air. I gave up boating alone, the last episode was enough. I have been afraid to do anything to strenuous that could possibly set it off. It has really restricted me from doing a lot of things.
We'll I finally got the recalled leads changed out! I no have to worry about getting zapped while washing my car. I have a few weeks of recovering but that's much better then living with the fear I have had.
We got a letter that the wire leads going to my heart from my defribulator are on factory recall. The problem is they fracture over time and the cracks in the leads send a false reading to the defribulator. The defribulator thinks the person is going into cardiac arrest and it shocks the heart!
They said in several of the ones that had these problems would go off continuously until the person was brought to the hospital which is the only way to turn it off.
I have been shocked twice since i have this thing, both on the boat when by myself and the shock is like nothing you ever felt before. The first shock surprises the crap out of you and makes you think you touched an open circuit and got shocked. The 2nd one which is 30 seconds later is twice as strong as the first and I can only describe it by saying it feels like you were kicked by a horse in the chest. The 3rd zapp, again stronger, basically knocks you off your feet! Just like on tv when the doctor says "CLEAR" and the person bounces off the 12" off the floor. The 4th which I only experienced one time was like getting hit by a semi doing 80.
You can hear the electrical "CRACK" through your whole body that sounds like an explosion that only you can hear. It feels like a lightning strike right next to you. Besides the pain, your also scared to death that you are going to die. Your going into cardiac arrest so your not sure what's going to happen.
I remember staying perfectly still in between shocks trying to slow my heart rate down, praying to God it won't go off again while your begging for your life!
The next day every joint in everyone of your toes is in agony. Everything hurts. But as bad as it hurts your the most grateful person on earth as you know what the alternative would have been.
I could not imagine having the defibulator go off and continue to go off with out it stopping. I think at that point you would want to die.
This has been a year of hell worring about this recall. i gave up flying in fear of the defribulator going off while in the air. I gave up boating alone, the last episode was enough. I have been afraid to do anything to strenuous that could possibly set it off. It has really restricted me from doing a lot of things.
We'll I finally got the recalled leads changed out! I no have to worry about getting zapped while washing my car. I have a few weeks of recovering but that's much better then living with the fear I have had.
07-24-2009, 04:20 PM
#3
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I remember the story when you first got whacked scarey stuff hope all is well now
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07-24-2009, 04:57 PM
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Hi I'm Mrs. Blue Thunder and he thought this would be of interest to me since I an a Pacemaker/Defibrillator technician. I test and program the devices. This is common for patients who have received therapy shocks from their devices to feel anxiety. What I tell patients is that getting the devices are to improve quality of life not be a hinder. I was wondering if the shocks you received was appropriate? Was your rhythm a lethal rhythm? If it wasn't appropriate my other question would be can they program your device so that doesn't happen again. (There are ways to program the device not to shock on non lethal rhythms). The leads that are recalled and along with other leads are made by humans including the material they use on the outside of these leads. I can say I'm impressed with the company's response to the Alert on the leads to let the MD offices know as soon as it was an issue. If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer. Take care and remember that your device it their to save your life.
I wonder how these big companies can put products on the market without proper testing. I have had recalls on cars i owned before but never one like this.
We got a letter that the wire leads going to my heart from my defribulator are on factory recall. The problem is they fracture over time and the cracks in the leads send a false reading to the defribulator. The defribulator thinks the person is going into cardiac arrest and it shocks the heart!
They said in several of the ones that had these problems would go off continuously until the person was brought to the hospital which is the only way to turn it off.
I have been shocked twice since i have this thing, both on the boat when by myself and the shock is like nothing you ever felt before. The first shock surprises the crap out of you and makes you think you touched an open circuit and got shocked. The 2nd one which is 30 seconds later is twice as strong as the first and I can only describe it by saying it feels like you were kicked by a horse in the chest. The 3rd zapp, again stronger, basically knocks you off your feet! Just like on tv when the doctor says "CLEAR" and the person bounces off the 12" off the floor. The 4th which I only experienced one time was like getting hit by a semi doing 80.
You can hear the electrical "CRACK" through your whole body that sounds like an explosion that only you can hear. It feels like a lightning strike right next to you. Besides the pain, your also scared to death that you are going to die. Your going into cardiac arrest so your not sure what's going to happen.
I remember staying perfectly still in between shocks trying to slow my heart rate down, praying to God it won't go off again while your begging for your life!
The next day every joint in everyone of your toes is in agony. Everything hurts. But as bad as it hurts your the most grateful person on earth as you know what the alternative would have been.
I could not imagine having the defibulator go off and continue to go off with out it stopping. I think at that point you would want to die.
This has been a year of hell worring about this recall. i gave up flying in fear of the defribulator going off while in the air. I gave up boating alone, the last episode was enough. I have been afraid to do anything to strenuous that could possibly set it off. It has really restricted me from doing a lot of things.
We'll I finally got the recalled leads changed out! I no have to worry about getting zapped while washing my car. I have a few weeks of recovering but that's much better then living with the fear I have had.
We got a letter that the wire leads going to my heart from my defribulator are on factory recall. The problem is they fracture over time and the cracks in the leads send a false reading to the defribulator. The defribulator thinks the person is going into cardiac arrest and it shocks the heart!
They said in several of the ones that had these problems would go off continuously until the person was brought to the hospital which is the only way to turn it off.
I have been shocked twice since i have this thing, both on the boat when by myself and the shock is like nothing you ever felt before. The first shock surprises the crap out of you and makes you think you touched an open circuit and got shocked. The 2nd one which is 30 seconds later is twice as strong as the first and I can only describe it by saying it feels like you were kicked by a horse in the chest. The 3rd zapp, again stronger, basically knocks you off your feet! Just like on tv when the doctor says "CLEAR" and the person bounces off the 12" off the floor. The 4th which I only experienced one time was like getting hit by a semi doing 80.
You can hear the electrical "CRACK" through your whole body that sounds like an explosion that only you can hear. It feels like a lightning strike right next to you. Besides the pain, your also scared to death that you are going to die. Your going into cardiac arrest so your not sure what's going to happen.
I remember staying perfectly still in between shocks trying to slow my heart rate down, praying to God it won't go off again while your begging for your life!
The next day every joint in everyone of your toes is in agony. Everything hurts. But as bad as it hurts your the most grateful person on earth as you know what the alternative would have been.
I could not imagine having the defibulator go off and continue to go off with out it stopping. I think at that point you would want to die.
This has been a year of hell worring about this recall. i gave up flying in fear of the defribulator going off while in the air. I gave up boating alone, the last episode was enough. I have been afraid to do anything to strenuous that could possibly set it off. It has really restricted me from doing a lot of things.
We'll I finally got the recalled leads changed out! I no have to worry about getting zapped while washing my car. I have a few weeks of recovering but that's much better then living with the fear I have had.
07-24-2009, 10:43 PM
#6
Hi I'm Mrs. Blue Thunder and he thought this would be of interest to me since I an a Pacemaker/Defibrillator technician. I test and program the devices. This is common for patients who have received therapy shocks from their devices to feel anxiety. What I tell patients is that getting the devices are to improve quality of life not be a hinder. I was wondering if the shocks you received was appropriate? Was your rhythm a lethal rhythm? If it wasn't appropriate my other question would be can they program your device so that doesn't happen again. (There are ways to program the device not to shock on non lethal rhythms). The leads that are recalled and along with other leads are made by humans including the material they use on the outside of these leads. I can say I'm impressed with the company's response to the Alert on the leads to let the MD offices know as soon as it was an issue. If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer. Take care and remember that your device it their to save your life.
I'll tell you the second episode really screwed me up. I have very bad claustrophobia, i can't get on a plane, any confined area and i start to panic. I never had these issues before!
07-25-2009, 08:01 AM
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Just amazes me how anything produced can be cheaped out on. A medical device for someones well being. Lets just use the cheapest parts we can find....
Gino, glad to hear your all fixed up, hopefully no more inappropriate shock therapy for you.
Gino, glad to hear your all fixed up, hopefully no more inappropriate shock therapy for you.
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