cruising with ICD (defibrillator)

[zumbalover]

My husband recently had an ICD implanted after a sudden cardiac arrest. Fortunately, he received CPR and was resuscitated successfully and will make a full recovery. We have cancelled our summer cruise as he adjusts to this, but it has raised some questions for us as we love to travel and have a few trips planned.

 

Does anyone have experience cruising or taking long flights with an ICD implanted? He has a card to carry with him and we know about the security screening, but are there any other things we need to take into consideration?

 

Do we need to let the cruise line know ahead of time about the ICD?

 

We have never had the need for medical services on a cruise ship; are there any cruise lines that have better medical services than others or ones that have experience with ICDs?

 

Has anyone had the misfortune of having one go off while travelling, and if so, what did you do?

 

He is understandably nervous about travelling, we are in our early 50s and hope to have many years to travel, so any information or tips that anyone can pass on would be appreciated!

[cotatica]

I have had my ICD for 14 months and am looking forward to responses. At first the ICD was all I could think about, the what ifs. Luckily that only lasts a little while. I have done a 11 day Alaska cruise after implant and it was a breeze. You just tell them you have it and around security you go. I can feel the pacemaker when it goes on but I know that is a good thing. I hope we never feel the defibulator!

[sajeka16]

I have had an ICD since I was 19 years old (23 now) and I can confidently say since I have traveled the world with my defibrillator I have never had any issues. I have been on 18hour flights and cruises with no problems. The only difference traveling with one vs. without one is you have to tell the people at the medal detectors that you have one (you don't even need to show them your card, they don't care!) and they will either pat you down or use the x-ray machine instead. Hope this helped. 

[Cruseforme]

10 minutes ago, sajeka16 said:

I have had an ICD since I was 19 years old (23 now) and I can confidently say since I have traveled the world with my defibrillator I have never had any issues. I have been on 18hour flights and cruises with no problems. The only difference traveling with one vs. without one is you have to tell the people at the medal detectors that you have one (you don't even need to show them your card, they don't care!) and they will either pat you down or use the x-ray machine instead. Hope this helped. 

Welcome to Cruise Critic!   You probably will not be getting a reply from the original poster, as this is a 4 year old forum entry.    Unfortunately,  they do not archive anything, so you need to watch the entry date on the post.   Happy Cruising!   

[Iamthesea]

I am glad this thread was resurrected.  Very timely!

 

My husband is just home from the hospital after having an ICD implanted.  His particular model has a "communicator box" that is used to send device data back to the doctors.  This box needs to be plugged in and data sent by a phone connection, Cellular signal, or ethernet.  Really confused, and need to go read up on it. 

 

Bottom line is that we are leaving on a cruise May 12th.  I am not sure how the device data will be sent while we are in Europe, on the ship, and especially while at sea. 😨

 

Has anyone had experience with  this issue?

[flutprop]

On 4/24/2019 at 3:53 PM, Iamthesea said:

I am glad this thread was resurrected.  Very timely!

 

My husband is just home from the hospital after having an ICD implanted.  His particular model has a "communicator box" that is used to send device data back to the doctors.  This box needs to be plugged in and data sent by a phone connection, Cellular signal, or ethernet.  Really confused, and need to go read up on it. 

 

Bottom line is that we are leaving on a cruise May 12th.  I am not sure how the device data will be sent while we are in Europe, on the ship, and especially while at sea. 😨

 

Has anyone had experience with  this issue?

 

How often is he supposed to communicate with the doctor? My father only has to send info the the doctor every three months, alternating with his visits where they read the same info.