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. 2021 May;36(4):358-364.
doi: 10.1177/0267659120973843. Epub 2020 Nov 25.

Inter-hospital COVID ECMO air transportation

Ismael A Salas de Armas  1 , Bindu H Akkanti  2 , Lisa Janowiak  1 , Igor Banjac  1 , Kha Dinh  2 , Rahat Hussain  2 , Rodolfo Cabrera  3 , Tony Herrera  3 , Damon Sanger  3 , Mehmet H Akay  1 , Jayeshkumar Patel  1 , Manish K Patel  1 , Sachin Kumar  1 , Marwan Jumean  1 , Biswajit Kar  1 , Igor D Gregoric  1
Affiliations

Inter-hospital COVID ECMO air transportation

Ismael A Salas de Armas et al. Perfusion. 2021 May.

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has required rapid and effective protocol adjustments at every level of healthcare. The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is pivotal to COVID-19 treatment in cases of refractory hypoxemic hypercapnic respiratory failure. As such, our large, metropolitan air ambulance system in conjunction with our experts in advanced cardiopulmonary therapies modified protocols to assist peripheral hospitals in evaluation, cannulation and initiation of ECMO for rescue and air transportation of patients with COVID-19 to our quaternary center. The detailed protocol is described alongside initial data of its use. To date, 14 patients have been placed on ECMO support at an outside facility and successfully transported via helicopter to our hub hospital using this protocol.

Keywords: COVID-19; ECMO; air ambulance; critical care transport; heart failure.

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