Re: ECMO - Will We Have Sufficient Capacity for the Fall/Winter Flu Season?

Haven't posted on the forum in a while, but this thread has been very interesting.

(I've already been exposed to a H1N1 positive patient and just finished my course of tamiflu.)

Next month I'm slated to partake in my hospitals ECMO traing program, so wish me luck.

Re: ECMO - Will We Have Sufficient Capacity for the Fall/Winter Flu Season?

Albuquerque, New Mexico

http://www.jhvonline.com/default.asp...online&he=.com

Originally Posted by www.jhvonline.com

Raymond suffered from vomiting and chest pains on Saturday, so his roommates helped him to the school’s teaching hospital emergency room, where he was admitted to the ICU.

With plummeting oxygen levels and blood pressure, Raymond was placd on an ECMO – extracorporeal membrane oxygenation – machine. “They couldn’t have done more for us, and Raymond couldn’t have been in a better place with better, more dedicated doctors and nurses,” his mother, Elaine, said.

Raymond was put on the ECMO machine Sunday afternoon, and died Wednesday night, Nov. 11. “I flew up there on Saturday, thinking that everything would be OK,” Ronnie pointed out. When he learned the severity of his son’s situation, Ronnie was told by doctors that they had never seen a flu patient’s condition turn so bad so quick.

(hat tip pfi/monotreme)

Re: ECMO - Will We Have Sufficient Capacity for the Fall/Winter Flu Season?

I work in one of the prominent medical facilities in the United States in the CVICU and we are seeing some of the H1N1 patients that are requiring ECMO to survive. Our hospital luckily has large CVICU rooms because the amount of room that the ECMO machines and IV pumps required takes up a large room and we are able to maintain respiratory precautions. Unfortunately, most of the H1N1 patients that were started on ECMO have not survived. One day we were at near compacity for ECMO patients (5 patients). The facility only has 6 ECMO pumps that I am aware of. Staffing of the unit is a nightmare.....there are only 12 trained Rn's for ECMO (some of our unit has been out due to H1N1). I have a feeling the next 6 months are going to be challenging for our unit, due to H1N1 and the expected mutation of this virus!

Re: ECMO - Will We Have Sufficient Capacity for the Fall/Winter Flu Season?

Originally Posted by Ventjock

Haven't posted on the forum in a while, but this thread has been very interesting.

(I've already been exposed to a H1N1 positive patient and just finished my course of tamiflu.)

Next month I'm slated to partake in my hospitals ECMO traing program, so wish me luck.

Good for you Ventjock. Be prepared for a learning ladder - forget the curve... it's a ladder. I'm about half way through my practicum, but am on vacation this week. I've also been exposed to many H1N1 positive people, but haven't been on Tamiflu. Seems pointless since I was vaccinated on Oct 27 and my son came down with it on Nov 6 but I didn't.

Originally Posted by therisingsun68

Unfortunately, most of the H1N1 patients that were started on ECMO have not survived. One day we were at near compacity for ECMO patients (5 patients). The facility only has 6 ECMO pumps that I am aware of. Staffing of the unit is a nightmare.....there are only 12 trained Rn's for ECMO (some of our unit has been out due to H1N1). I have a feeling the next 6 months are going to be challenging for our unit, due to H1N1 and the expected mutation of this virus!

We're 1:3 so far with ours. One successful decannulation, 2 deaths. We have 5 circuits running right now (1/3 of our PICU beds!), which is all the pumps we have, so far as I know. They tell us they've bought more but they haven't shown up yet. Staffing... yeah. We have about 20 RNs and about 18 RTs trained but some of them are no longer active with the team. They've been pressed back into service though. Our sick days have doubled so we're all in the same boat.

Re: ECMO - Will We Have Sufficient Capacity for the Fall/Winter Flu Season?

Medford, Oregon

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs...0304/-1/news07

Originally Posted by www.mailtribune.com

...she was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, which provides oxygen to patients whose heart and lungs are so severely diseased or damaged that they can no longer function.

A preschool teacher, Jacquelyn will be unable to return to work for six months to two years, depending on the progress of her recovery, he said. Because her immune system was severely weakened, Jacquelyn said she will probably not return to teaching preschool but will choose a more controlled environment, perhaps helping her father in his business, in which he leads workshops.

"I'm hoping that with will power, faith and encouragement, it won't take two years," she said.

Re: ECMO - Will We Have Sufficient Capacity for the Fall/Winter Flu Season?

Our decannulated patient was discharged home today. His parents brought him down for a visit to say goodbye and thank you. I could hardly see his cannulation site on his neck. Amazing.

Oh, and before I forget, only one of the 5 ECMOs we had running this morning is H1N1 related. The others are cardiac.

Re: ECMO - Will We Have Sufficient Capacity for the Fall/Winter Flu Season?

Omaha, Nebraska

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...E0tQgD9C5F5480

Originally Posted by www.google.com

"It was pretty scary knowing that was his blood flowing through those tubes in and out of his body," says Susie Damm of Omaha, Neb., whose 19-year-old son Ryan survived a life-threatening bout after 10 days on ECMO.
"I was one of the people sick and tired of hearing about the swine flu, thinking people were making a big deal of it," she adds. "Now I've had a different look, and I'm very, very thankful" he survived.

No one knows which patients are most likely to benefit — not everyone does. But ECMO is gaining attention after Australian researchers reported that the machines helped during that country's outbreak of what scientists call the 2009 H1N1 flu strain. A voluntary U.S.-based registry counts 107 critically ill swine flu patients recently treated with ECMO, most from this country.
In Omaha, Dr. Jeff DeMare credits the technique with saving Ryan Damm and 7-year-old Tania Romero-Oropeza after both patients' lungs went from clogged to nearly useless in a stunning matter of hours. Tania's care was complicated by a drug-resistant staph infection.

(hat tip pfi/pixie)

Re: ECMO - Will We Have Sufficient Capacity for the Fall/Winter Flu Season?

Alliston, Ontario

http://www.simcoe.com/article/150466

Originally Posted by www.simcoe.com

David Alexander, 53, died on the weekend at Toronto General Hospital. His son John Alexander said doctors were almost 100 per cent certain he had the H1N1 virus.

...doctors determined he needed a procedure called an ecmo.

A few days before entering hospital, he experienced shortness of breath but his family didn't suspect swine flu. It progressed quickly and he died after a week in hospital.

Alexander said his father was healthy and had no underlying health problems.

(hat tip pfi/pixie)