Remote cannulation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation transport is safe in a newly established program

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has become an increasingly utilized modality for the support of patients with severe cardiac or pulmonary dysfunction. Unfortunately, the costs and expertise required to maintain a formal ECMO program preclude the vast majority of hospitals from employing such technology routinely. These barriers to implementation of an effective ECMO program highlight the importance of the safe transport of patients in need of extracorporeal support. While many centers with extensive expertise in the management of patients on extracorporeal support have demonstrated their ability to transport those same patients, the ability of new ECMO programs to provide such transportation remains poorly studied. We established an ECMO program at our institution and immediately provided equipment and personnel to transport patients in need of or receiving extracorporeal support to our institution. Overall, we found that 13 out of 28 patients transported to our institution on ECMO or for consideration of ECMO support during the first 15 months of the program survived to hospital discharge. During that period, four incidents associated with patient transport occurred but none were related to ECMO support or adversely affected patient outcome. These observations demonstrate that new ECMO programs can safely and reliably transport patients on or in need of extracorporeal support.