To continue highlighting ECMO Appreciation Week, we want to raise awareness for the importance of this profession and the impact these teams have on patient care every single day. Recently, SpecialtyCare provided 2.5 days of didactic instruction along with hands-on wetlab scenarios provided by our industry leaders (Kirti Patel, Courtney Petersen, Linda Mongero, and Sonia Zuzek) with over 70 years combined experience. Training was focused on the latest therapeutic practices, and students walked away with the ability to manage the equipment supplies, monitor ECMO patients even in times of crisis, and develop strategies for optimal patient care.
The didactic training objectives included Cannulation Strategies, ECMO Initiation, Anticoagulation Management, Clinical Management of ECMO, Monitoring and Weaning V-V, Monitoring and Weaning V-A, and Troubleshooting. The ECMO wet lab included objectives like Standard Circuit Setup, ECMO Circuit Troubleshooting, Oxygenator Failure & Change Out, Centrifugal Pump Failure & Change Out Circuit Failure & Change Out, Pigtail and Stopcock Change Out, Hand-Cranking Centrifugal Pump, Removing Air from Circuit, Resolving High-Line Pressures, Power Failure, Inadvertent Decannulation, Patient Air Embolus, and Competency Review and Check-off.
Our team recently completed numerous training sessions across our service line. Students take a final exam at the end of the course to assess their ability to become independent and confident ECMO Specialists at the bedside. The training has been very successful based on outcomes.
