Heart Smart Guide for Young Patients With Cardiac Devices

Learning that you have a heart condition can be scary and confusing. The purpose of this patient page is to answer questions you may have about how to confidently manage your condition and your new device. Strategies to help you stay healthy, deal with stress, and return to school and other activities can help you feel more confident. Learning about what to do in different social situations can help you prepare to talk to friends and other people in your life about your device. If you do not find all your answers here, keep asking questions and engage your loved ones in the process. Your cardiac care team can help, along with other key people in your life.The first step in getting used to life with a cardiac device is to get heart smart! Learning about your cardiac disease and your device can go a long way, especially when it comes to improving your confidence. The best way to start this process is to learn about your device and why your care team decided you needed one. Cardiac devices are implanted for a couple of reasons. Devices can be used to stop dangerous heartbeats with a shock or add heartbeats when they are missing or slow. They can also be used to pace a heart out of a dangerous heartbeat (arrhythmia) with small electric signals.Figure. Cardiac devices: a primer for the family, friends, and support team.If you have a pacemaker, you can feel comfortable knowing that your pacemaker will do its job automatically. If you have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), it will also do its job automatically, but you will also want to know what to do if it provides a shock. Another patient page, …