LTC Podcast 6 Prehospital ECMO

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The content you’re about to read or listen to is at least two years old, which means evidence and guidelines may have changed since it was originally published. This content item won’t be edited but there will be a newer version published if warranted. Check the new publications and curriculum map for updates

Authors: Ben Singer, Dave McCreary / Codes: / Published: 12/03/2015

At both the London Trauma Conference and the Cardiac Arrest Symposium, there was a bit of a theme of endovascular resuscitation methods, from REBOA (see my previous podcast with Dr Gareth Davies), to prehospital ECMO (what youre about to hear), to intra-aortic adrenaline and Selective Aortic Arch Perfusion (stay tuned in the coming weeks!).

Prehospital ECMO for refractory cardiac arrest is a mind-boggling feat when you consider the rapid response, technical ability and logistics required, so the work that is being done in Paris is groundbreaking and fascinating. In this podcast Dr Ben Singer, Anaesthetic and Intensive Care doctor with interests in ECMO and prehospital care, gives us some insight into what is being done in Paris, and the ins and outs of prehospital ECMO for the non-perfusionist.

As always, remember to follow the conference on twitter @LDNtrauma and myself @dmccreary85 & @FOAMedNW for questions or comments.

References:

1. Lamault L, Jouffroy R et al. Safety and feasibility of prehospital extra corporeal life support implementation by non-surgeons for out-of-hospital refractory cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. 2013 Nov;84(11):1525-9
2. Stub D, Bernard S et al. Refractory cardiac arrest treated with mechanical CPR, hypothermia, ECMO and early reperfusion (the CHEER trial). Resuscitation. 2014 Oct 2. [epub ahead of print]