What is ECMO?

[bomb12772]

NEVER heard of ECMO so I am curious as to what ECMO is.

[BBDEBS]

It’s a very special machine that oxygenates the blood outside the body. Like a bypass machine. Not available in all hospitals, in the UK there are 6 or 7 that I know of which do ECMO but then you have to weigh up if the patient would survive the transfer. In my case, I would not, so was kept in ITU and am here to say hello today.

Medicine and the NHS is truly wonderful. I have private health insurance which I didn’t use, it was the NHS who saved my life. You can’t call BUPA when you’re in a coma 😉

[Ache-Witmer]

ECMO is a machine that basically does the work the work of the lungs when the lungs are not able. The patients blood travels through through the machine and becomes oxygenated and it removes the carbon dioxide from the blood.

[Copse77]

ECMO saved my younger brothers life. Today is our birthday. We are not twins but we’re botn on the same day 3 years apart. He was put on ECMO when his organs were shutting down due to sepsis. The machine allowed his lungs to rest and recover. We are so grateful to the NHS.

[Videodragons]

Yes. Many of us have, like me, had our lives saved by the NHS. We need to save it.