Anyone travel with an LVAD heart pump?

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.

No posts on this in the Health section.

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...

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 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.

No experiende with that, but on a similar note, we did home hemodialysis while traveling in the coach for a year and a half before getting a kidney transplant. The unit would work on shore power or the pure sine wave inverter until we could start the generator. We always kept the invertor on and the switchover was fast enough.We also used just the generator on a couple of occasions. The equipment supplier had this all checked out in advance. Hope it works out for you. Happy trails Bert

IMHO a person on a LVAD needs to stay home close to medical care.

Good point on the conditioned power, I didn't think of that. Both the Magnum inverter and generator are pure sine wave so I should be able to ask the LVAD manufacturer.

The device will have 6 batteries, each pair offering 17 hrs of service, however during sleep the device is required to be plugged in to house AC directly, as are many portable medical devices (FDA). During a power loss, an alarm sounds and the unit itself has 15 minutes of power to allow you to go back to battery pack. However on the MH, we would instantly go to inverter or eventually generator automatically so I was curious if anyone had issues with compatibility. I read where some Fisher-Paykel dishwashers in MH would not function on generator.

I appreciate the medical concerns, but her LVAD is being installed to improve quality of life as she waits for a transplant, and travel is highly encouraged. The devices are TSA approved, but she far prefers the motorhome for travel.

Mile High wrote:
Good point on the conditioned power, I didn't think of that. Both the Magnum inverter and generator are pure sine wave so I should be able to ask the LVAD manufacturer.

It might also be a good idea to have both the inverter and generator checked for proper output. Both can be adjusted to insure that the output is optimal. On a generator, the RPM and governor is adjustable to proper output voltage and that it is at 60 cycles. The inverter can also be adjusted for the correct output voltage and frequency.

My brother in law has a LVAD and if he travels, Mayo Clinic will preview his route and make sure that there is at least one emergency service unit within so many miles of anywhere he goes, within reason. He grew up in Michigan UP but they cannot supply this as it is too rural so he cannot go there.
He is on the heart transplant list, and thinks the LVAD is wonderful as he would not be alive without it. He has been working out and is really in good shape since the pump was installed in October. He is 58 but wrecked his heart in an auto accident when he was 32. It steadily declined until this was necessary last year.