INTEGRIS Health, who has the largest comprehensive mobile ECMO program in the state, recently hit a milestone when caregivers placed their 1000th patient on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy.
“Today we are celebrating a momentous occasion, the achievement of 1000 ECMO patients. Each case represents more than just a number, it represents a profound impact on the lives of each patient and their families,” says Aly El Banayosy, M.D., the Section Chief of Acute Mechanical Circulatory Support and Specialty Critical Care at the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center. “Our success has been made possible not only by our dedicated staff, but also by our collaborative partner hospitals throughout the region. The journey to 1000 cases has shown us what we can achieve through teamwork, innovation and a shared vision.” (story continues below)
ECMO is a lifesaving therapy that provides support to patients whose heart and/or lungs are so severely diseased or damaged that they can no longer serve their function. It is often considered as a “last hope” for patients in critical condition.
We would like to introduce you to three such patients who claim without ECMO – they would not be alive today.
Lloyd Vines is a 33-year-old man who experienced complications following surgery at another hospital; including sepsis, respiratory failure and cardiogenic shock. Our mobile ECMO team placed him on ECMO at the other facility and transported him to INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center. He would remain on the device for 35 days! “It saved my life,” Vines exclaims. “I am not in the INTEGRIS Health network insurance wise, so the fact that they literally came in and rescued me is amazing!”
Ashelynne Lawson was 24 years old when her baby was born prematurely at just 23 weeks gestation. Lawson was 10 days postpartum when she was admitted to another hospital with pulmonary edema, which is an abnormal buildup of fluid in the lungs. Her condition rapidly deteriorated and she suffered two cardiac arrests. Our mobile ECMO team traveled to that facility and transferred her to INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center where she would remain on ECMO for a total of 14 days, before finally getting to go home and reuniting with her newborn baby girl and her son. “When you’re young you think you’re invincible, but I literally died twice and if it weren’t for ECMO – I wouldn’t be able to watch my babies grow up.”
Henry Ratliff is a 23-year-old husband and father of two young boys who was living with chronic heart failure, when he began experiencing chest pain and possible sepsis. While being transferred to INTEGRS Health Baptist Medical Center via ambulance, Ratliff went into cardiac arrest several times. The INTEGRIS Health ECMO team met him on arrival at the emergency room and placed him immediately on ECMO. He would remain on the therapy for 10 long days. During his intense fight for survival, both of his legs had to be amputated. Still, Ratliff is thankful to be alive and back with his wife and kids. “Not many people get as many second, third, fourth and fifth chances like I did,” explains Ratliff. “I definitely have a new lease on life!”
These are just three examples of the now 1000 lives touched by the INTEGRIS Health ECMO team since the program was created in 2014.
