Abstract
This study reports India's first international extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) transfer as a joint operation between Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) (Doha, Qatar), International Critical Care Air Transfer Team (ICATT), and Apollo Hospital (Chennai, India). Severe respiratory failure (SRF) patients can be transferred safely, and there may be a survival advantage in transferring such patients to regional centers of expertise. 1 Patients can also be transported between facilities while on ECMO. 2 In the case reported below, ECMO was initiated as a bridge for lung transplant, 3 which is currently not a procedure available in Qatar. ECMO support as a bridge for these patients could provide acceptable 1-year survival. 4 It is also important to note that newer ECMO pumps are small and compact, and can safely be used to transfer patients by air. 5 The first contact between the HMC and ICATT teams was made a month prior to the transfer of an ECMO patient due for the lung transplant. The patient was a mi...
Highlights
The challenges were: 1. Air logistic 2
There were initial discussions for the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) team from India to aeromedically retrieve the patient from Doha, but considering the cost factor, it was more economically viable for the ECMO team from Doha to perform the transfer and return by the same carrier
Preparation of an appropriately staffed and equipped intensive care unit (ICU) ambulance ("Mobile ECMO unit") along with patient stabilization was performed before the transfer to the airport
Summary
The challenges were: 1. Air logistic 2. Long-distance ECMO transfer (Qatar to India) 4. Poor understanding of ECMO among airport authorities 6.
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