Emergency Management
General Guidelines:
1. Treat a patient with an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) like any other patient.
2. If ICD discharges while you are touching the patient, you may feel a slight sensation. It will not harm you.
3. Do not wait for the device to fire in the presence of VT or VF. Begin CPR and defibrillate with external paddles as necessary. This will not harm the device.
4. ICD's are implanted under the skin in the left lower abdominal area or left upper chest just below the clavicle.
5. Patients with an ICD will carry a wallet card or Medic-Alert bracelet with important data regarding cutoff rate.
6. ICD's will deliver the first shockwithin 10-30 seconds after recognizing the arrhythmia.
7. Subsequent shocks will be delivered every 10-30 seconds.
8. An ICD will generally only shock4-5 times (depending on model), and requires 35 seconds of non-VT/VF rhythm, including asystole, to reset itself.