Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 27, 2026
A New Single Chamber Implantable Defibrillator with Atrial Sensing: A Practical Demonstration of Sensing and Ease of Implantation
Published on: February 28, 2012
[When the patient calls the SAMU because his pacemaker is making "beep-beep". Study on physicians' knowledge on
F Lapostolle1, N Laghmari1, P-G Reuter1
1SAMU 93, UF recherche-enseignement-qualité, université Paris 13, Sorbonne Cité, EA 3509, hôpital Avicenne, 125, rue de Stalingrad, 93009 Bobigny, France.
Introduction:
More than 60,000 pacemakers are inserted every year in France. This number has been steadily increasing for a decade. Miscellaneous incidents can lead patients with pacemakers or their relatives to contact emergency services. Following the call to the SAMU-Center 15 of a asymptomatic 90-year-old woman reported that her pacemaker was making "beep-beep", we assessed the knowledge of physicians of the SAMU-Center 15 (call center) dispatching center on the existence of pacemaker sound alarms.
Methods:
Forty-two physicians, emergency physicians and general practitioners, regularly participating in the medical dispatching of the SAMU-Center 15 in Seine-Seine-Denis were interviewed. We asked them how a patient with a pacemaker could be informed of a malfunction of it without being symptomatic.
Results:
No physician interviewed mentioned an audible alarm. All of them confirmed their ignorance of its existence. One physician had already been asked for a similar reason and had referred the patient to the emergency department without knowing it was an alarm.
Conclusion:
Patients and physicians seem insufficiently aware of the existence of the existence of pacemakers' sound alarm. An effort must be made regarding the information on the existence of such an alarm and the way to managed it.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Pulse rhythm
Conversely, an irregular pulse pattern is termed dysrhythmia, stemming from disruptions in cardiac...
01:23Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation III: AED Use
01:17Assessment of apical pulse
Assessing the apical pulse is a critical nursing procedure, particularly indicated for:
01:23Holter Monitor: 24-Hour Monitoring
01:25Cardiovascular System Abnormal Findings II: Auscultation
Abnormal Heart Sounds
Gallops:
01:25Assessment of apical radial pulse
The A-R pulse assessment involves simultaneous evaluation of the apical and radial pulses. When the apical and radial pulse rates vary, this assessment helps identify a pulse deficit.
Pre-Procedural Preparation