Doug Rachac
After working in the medical device industry for 14 years, including for Medtronic, I became an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) patient at the age of 40. This personal experience inspired me to become a patient advocate and educator. I now use my professional knowledge and firsthand experience to help other patients navigate life with an ICD and live without device-related stress and anxiety. I'm active in various peer support groups, create YouTube videos to answer common patient questions on topics like airport security and device functionality, and have collaborated with Medtronic on the "Heart Device Answers" platform. I am also a frequent guest on podcasts, where I share my story and insights.
Dispelling ICD Myths
Let’s dispel some myths!!! Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about our implanted pacemakers and defibrillators. Even more frustrating is that some of that information comes from medical professionals (even doctors). Please remember that your clinicians and doctors don’t design, build or test these devices, and the device’s abilities change almost daily. What was ...
What would you do?
Our ICD expert friend, Doug has put together a few tips on what to do if you have an implantable device and it activates its patient alert features, Ed You’re sitting enjoying your day when suddenly your implanted device vibrates or beeps. This goes on for 10-30 seconds, then it stops. What should you do? ...
Is Apple trying to kill us?
Ed: You may have read in the media or in online forums recently about the topic of the iPhone 12 and ICD’s. There has been lots of fear and misinformation banded around and so I asked ICD expert and owner Doug Rachac if we could share his commentary that he had posted in one of ...