Road transport on ECMO: The key elements

Aim: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) may be lifesaving for patients with severe cardiac/respiratory failure. Typically, ECMO is provided by specialized or regional centers, and patients may have to be transported by road or air ambulance. Herein, we will review the essential requirements for road transport of adult ECMO patients, also known as “mobile ECMO”. Background: Interfacility transport on ECMO is defined as “primary” where the ECMO team cannulates the patient at the referring facility and subsequently transports the patient to the ECMO center. In “secondary” transport, the patient is already on ECMO support at the referring facility but a need to transfer to another center has arisen. 1 Patient safety is the overriding priority in any mode of transport; however, in primary transports there is also a need to expedite the arrival of the ECMO team. 1 Interhospital transfer of critically ill patients on multi-modal organ support can be hazardous and adherence to protocols is recommended. 2,...