Wayne Otlowski, 53 years old (DOB 10/8/1950), of Middlesex, New Jersey,received an artificial mitral valve in 1996. He recovered without incident and had no further heart problems.

Eight years later, on June 3, 2004, he was driving on the New Jersey Turnpike when he got lightheaded, so he pulled over and reclined his seat. His palms were sweaty. Although he didn’t know it at the time, he was having an episode of ventricular tachycardia (VT).

Luckily his son was with him and called 911. Within minutes a state trooper arrived with an automated external defibrillator (AED) which he connected to Otlowski. The state trooper used the AED to defibrillate Otlowski. He was taken to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment. Five days later, on June 8, 2004, he received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Through the next month, Otlowski was in and out of the hospital due to complications from the ICD and to adjust his medications. He developed an infection with the second ICD and it had to be removed until the infection cleared. Meanwhile he was placed on the antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone.

While he was recovering in the hospital, Otlowski’s doctors told him about the LifeVest wearable defibrillator, how it would allow him to go home and recover while protecting him from life-threatening arrhythmias.

Otlowski agreed and was fitted with the LifeVest device on July 9, 2004, at Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ. He went home and spent the week recovering.

On the evening of Saturday, July 17, around 7:00 p.m., Otlowski was at home setting the table for dinner with his wife and daughter. At 7:08 p.m. the LifeVest device started sounding alarms. The device’s ECG event log shows the patient’s heart rhythm going into VT at that time.

The patient started feeling lightheaded, so he went to a chair to sit down. He remained conscious and held the response buttons. VT continued for about 3 minutes, when he lost consciousness and released the response buttons. His wife later recounted that “he must have lost consciousness for a few seconds and let go.”

Three and a half minutes after the onset of VT, the LifeVest device delivered a single 150-joule shock that restored normal rhythm. Otlowski later stated that he did not recall getting a treatment shock since he was unconscious at the time.

Right after receiving the shock, Otlowski went with his wife and daughter to the emergency room at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield, NJ, near his home. From the hospital, his daughter called LIFECOR at 7:57 p.m. to report the incident.

In the emergency room Otlowski was examined and released to return home. He was instructed to continue to wear the device. LIFECOR made arrangements to deliver a replacement belt to his home on Sunday morning.

A replacement belt was delivered to Otlowski’s home at 10:00 a.m. Sunday, July 18. He changed to the new belt and continued to wear the LifeVest device.

Otlowski later recounted that he was supposed to be the reader at church that Sunday and was “looking for a sign to tell him if he should go to church.” He interpreted the belt arriving at his home as that sign, so he went to church later that morning.

On Monday evening, July 19, Otlowski noticed that his heart was racing. The LifeVest device did not sound any alarms, however, and there were no incidents.

On Tuesday morning, July 20, Otlowski had an appointment to see his doctors. He wore the LifeVest device on his visit. His doctors gave him the option to be admitted to the hospital but he refused, saying he felt fine.

Later that day, while sitting on a swing with his wife, Otlowski’s heart went into an episode of VT. This time he remained conscious and held the response buttons to prevent a shock.

After about a half hour of going in and out of VT, he released the response buttons to allow the device to shock him. He says that he felt like “he got kicked in the chest and saw a bolt of lightning,” however he immediately felt better.

Following this incident, Otlowski’s doctors readmitted him to the hospital where he reluctantly gave up his LifeVest device and went on continuous monitoring.

He was transferred to Morristown Memorial Hospital, and on July 21, he received another ICD implant.