ECMO
The Alfred Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has provided ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) care since 1990 and has performed over 220 cases of ECMO for severe forms of cardiac and respiratory failure. An ECMO Clinical Service was established in 2003 to improve ECMO delivery and beside care.
Currently, the ECMO Clinical Service provides care for approximately 30 adult patients per year and performs 10-15 ECMO retrievals per year throughout Victoria and Tasmania in conjunction with Adult Retrieval Victoria (ARV).
The philosophy of the ECMO Clinical Service is that ECMO is best provided as an integrated Intensive Care patient support modality. Training programs, competency maintenance, credentialing requirements, protocols, preventative strategies and consultative Perfusion Service input are components of our integrated ECMO Service.
The incorporation of ECMO bedside care into ICU scope of practice has provided a cost effective and flexible staffing model which can accommodate the episodic demands for ECMO provision (such as during seasonal H1N1 Influenza A pandemics) and has been associated with favourable clinical outcomes (see Outcomes).
In addition, the Alfred ICU provides muldisciplinary training courses for nursing, medical and allied health staff wishing to provide bedside care for ECMO patients and animal laboratory-based training for medical staff to learn to perform percutaneous ECMO cannulation. (see Training Courses)
Staff
ECMO Clinical Service Director: Vincent Pellegrino
ICU ECLS Coordinators: Mathew Reid and Jayne Sheldrake
Equipment Nurses: Clare Powell-Grey and Caroline Chong
ECMO Course Convenor: Cathy Oswald
