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Defibrillator heart implant and working around machines.

Lock 45

Plastic
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Can I hear from fellows with defibrillators please? I am about to have one implanted. It is not a pacemaker - defibrillator combination device but just a defibrillator. I do not weld. I work around manual surface grinders with magnetic chucks, punch presses, milling machines, one CNC mill and one CNC lathe. There are also some small fractional horsepower motors that have carbon brushes.

What changes will I have to make when working around machines?

Thanks in advance.

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They are shielded, get in touch with the hospital pacing lab, they can tell you what one their planning to fit, and let them know of EM field concerns, they have several models
Mark
 
The manufacturers rep will likely be there, ask him. I had a loop monitor implanted and the rep was there. I asked him about my work in power generation. He said that it should be no problem. I have even had an MRI with it . He and the doctor should be the ones to ask.
 
They're sensitive to a magnet; in your case, the magnet will inhibit the unit from firing.

True story: I was called to a code out on one of the med floors, started doing compressions (I'm an RRT, we usually handle bag-mask). The implanted unit fired, I was in contact-quite a jolt, took some seconds to recover, and was still a bit gunshy after; got out of the compression rotation and took over the bag. The patient made it; when the defibrillator fired, patient's rhythm converted. Turned out someone didn't place the magnet right.
 
I have a defibrillator/ standby pacer. My unit will make humming sound if it encounters a large magnetic field. It will not function if it is turned off by a magnet. I made mine hum a couple times. Once when I absent-mindedly draped the tig stinger over my neck and right over the unit while tigging 200 amps and once when I leaned real close to a stack if silver-dollar-sized neodymium magnets. So I simply moved away from the magnets a few inches and I don’t drape the stinger over my chest. The “ book” says 160 amps is the max amps to use on a tig. I tried hard to find the data on that number. I got nothing and feel it is likely arbitrary. I tig at 200 several times per week with no trouble in a year and a half. I use my electric surface grinder magnet without expecting or experiencing trouble of any kind. I don’t put neo magnets in my shirt pocket! But otherwise I work very vigorously with no limitation related to my heart or unit and have had zero issues. PM me if you want talk it about it more.

Denis
 








 
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