An Urban 911 System’s Experience with Left Ventricular Assist Device Patients

AbstractBackground: Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are used with increasing frequency and left in place for longer periods of time. Prior publications have focused on the mechanics of troubleshooting the device itself. We aim to describe the epidemiology of LVAD patient presentations to emergency medical services (EMS), prehospital assessments and interventions, and hospital outcomes.Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of known LVAD patients belonging to a single academic center’s heart failure program who activated the 9-1-1 system and were transported by an urban EMS system to one of the center’s two emergency departments between January 2012 and December 2015. Identifying demographics were used to query the electronic medical record of the responding city fire agency and contracted transporting ambulance service. Two reviewers abstracted prehospital chief complaint, vital signs, assessments, and interventions. Emergency department and hospital outcomes were retrieved separately.Resul…