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Mile_High's avatar
Mile_High
Explorer
Jul 21, 2017

Anyone travel with an LVAD heart pump?

Anyone travel with an LVAD heart pump? Looks like we may be facing that and I'm curious if anyone had issues with it operating on inverter or generator?

45 Replies

  • I had no idea what an LVAD was so I looked it up. That is quite the device and based on what I read only used for people in rather bad shape. Not going to ask any personal questions, but I'd be more concerned about the travel itself for that person versus the device. But having said that, looks like it operates off rechargeable batteries that are in an external pack. So the device itself isn't powered by the generator, just the batteries are charged. Doesn't seem like that would be much of a problem, but I think I'd want a couple of spare battery packs just in case.
  • Here's some tips from St. Jude....https://www.sjm.com/en/patients/heart-failure/living-with-your-device/device-battery?clset=af584191-45c9-4201-8740-5409f4cf8bdd%3ab20716c1-c2a6-4e4c-844b-d0dd6899eb3a
  • I'm surprised you didn't see the LVAD fact sheet on line from Thoratec. Lots of other information too. The unit's batteries last up to 12 hours. So if you have extra batteries and you can recharge the batteries...
  • Mile High wrote:
    Anyone travel with an LVAD heart pump? Looks like we may be facing that and I'm curious if anyone had issues with it operating on inverter or generator?


    That may be something that you will need information from the manufacturer. With inverters and generators they are all different and you need to find out if the pump requires a PURE sine wave or can work with MODIFIED sine wave power. Someone on here may be using one but their power source may be different than yours just because all inverters and generators are different. Try to get a recommendation from the manufacturer and then go from there to be safe.