A Crit­i­cal Life-Sav­ing Moment at Onslow Memo­r­i­al Hospital

When a 51-year-old patient with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) arrived at Onslow Memorial Hospital, she appeared calm, explaining she had been trying to reach Duke. However, after consulting Duke’s specialists, Dr. Terence Kolb quickly understood the severity of the situation, her LVAD battery was near depletion, and the charging plug was broken.

With no flight transport available, Dr. Kolb had no choice but to follow step-by-step instructions from Duke specialists over the phone, writing down each detail as he prepared to perform the procedure himself. The patient consented, knowing that turning off the pump could result in a failed restart. This LVAD model had been removed from the market due to frequent failure to restart once powered down.

When the drive line was disconnected, the patient immediately lost circulation, causing the patient to go limp. The team had just eight seconds to reconnect the line to a new power unit. In a tense moment, the line was reattached, the control switched, and the activation button pressed. As the RPMs climbed to 26,000, the patient’s circulation was restored, and she regained consciousness.

After stabilization, the patient was transferred to Duke for a new LVAD system. Had the restart failed, Dr. Kolb would have had to rely on chest compressions for the three-hour transport.

Dr. Kolb’s leadership, quick decision-making, and coordination with Duke’s team, alongside the dedicated efforts of the nursing staff, ICU team, and APC Dave Bennett, turned a near-impossible situation into a success.