Once a patient has been accepted for Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) they need to be transported to Glenfield Hospital by our dedicated transport team. During their stay on the ECMO unit they will be looked after by the ECMO team and will remain with us until they have recovered and can be transferred back to the hospital they came from.
The ECMO transport team is dedicated to moving patients from and to the referring hospital for ECMO treatment. Highly skilled nurses and doctors carry out the transfers which may take the form of an ambulance, usually East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), a helicopter or a fixed wing aircraft. The mode of transport will depend on the distances involved and the stability of the patient.
In transit the intensive care environment is replicated as far as possible and patients are maintained on a ventilator (breathing machine) and have continuous monitoring of their vital signs.
Some patients are so critically ill that they require ECMO therapy to be established prior to being transported to our specialist centre, otherwise they would be too sick for the journey. In close collaboration with both EMAS and our partners in aviation, we have adapted our equipment to enable transfer of these extremely sick patients whilst receiving ECMO and provide the country’s only 24/7 adult, paediatric and neonatal mobile ECMO service.
Once a patient has been accepted for Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) they need to be transported to Glenfield Hospital by our dedicated transport team.
The transport team consists of
1. ECMO & transport consultant
2. ECMO specialist nurse fully trained in the transport of ECMO patients
3. Perfusionist
