{"doi":"10.1053/j.jvca.2021.05.047","title":"Implementation and Outcomes of a Mobile Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Program in the United States During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic","abstract":"The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began in the United States around March 2020. Because of limited access to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the authors’ region, a mobile ECMO team was implemented by April 2020 to serve patients with COVID-19. Several logistical and operational needs were assessed and addressed to ensure a successful program, including credentialing, equipment management, and transportation. A multidisciplinary team was included in the planning, decision-making, and implementation of the mobile ECMO. From April 2020 to January 2021, mobile ECMO was provided to 22 patients in 13 facilities across four southern California counties. The survival to hospital discharge of patients with COVID-19 who received mobile ECMO was 52.4% (11 of 21) compared with 45.2% (14 of 31) for similar patients cannulated in-house. No significant patient or transportation complications occurred during mobile ECMO. Neither the ECMO nor transport teams experianced unprotected exposures to or infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Herein, the implementation of the mobile ECMO team is reviewed, and patient characteristics and outcomes are described. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began in the United States around March 2020. Because of limited access to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the authors’ region, a mobile ECMO team was implemented by April 2020 to serve patients with COVID-19. Several logistical and operational needs were assessed and addressed to ensure a successful program, including credentialing, equipment management, and transportation. A multidisciplinary team was included in the planning, decision-making, and implementation of the mobile ECMO. From April 2020 to January 2021, mobile ECMO was provided to 22 patients in 13 facilities across four southern California counties. The survival to hospital discharge of patients with COVID-19 who received mobile ECMO was 52.4% (11 of 21) compared with 45.2% (14 of 31) for similar patients cannulated in-house. No significant patient or transportation complications occurred during mobile ECMO. Neither the ECMO nor transport teams experianced unprotected exposures to or infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Herein, the implementation of the mobile ECMO team is reviewed, and patient characteristics and outcomes are described. EXTRACORPOREAL MEMBRANE oxygenation (ECMO) is an advanced mechanical circulatory support therapy for refractory cardiac and/or respiratory failure.1Brodie D Slutsky AS Combes A. Extracorporeal life support for adults with respiratory failure and related indications: A review.JAMA. 2019; 322: 557-568Crossref PubMed Scopus (181) Google Scholar This technology has been used increasingly for adults in the United States since the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and again in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.2Davies AR Jones D Bailey M et al.Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for 2009 influenza A(H1N1) acute respiratory distress syndrome.JAMA. 2009; 302: 1888Crossref PubMed Scopus (1319) Google Scholar Mobile ECMO is deployed when critically ill patients at outside facilities are too clinically unstable to transfer to a regional ECMO center. Mobile ECMO has been used safely and successfully in both the pediatric and adult populations in many countries for decades.3Kanji HD Chouldechova A Harvey C et al.Safety and outcomes of mobile ECMO using a bicaval dual-stage venous catheter.ASAIO J. 2017; 63: 351-355Crossref PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar, 4Biscotti M Agerstrand C Abrams D et al.One hundred transports on extracorporeal support to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation center.Ann Thorac Surg. 2005; 100: 34-40Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (76) Google Scholar, 5Coppola CP Tyree M Larry K et al.A 22-year experience in global transport extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.J Pediatr Surg. 2008; 43: 46-52Abstract Full ","journal":"Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia","year":2021,"id":170883,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":27,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9567,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":701817,"name":"Cassia Yi","orcid":"0000-0003-1522-3066","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":561304,"name":"Scott Chicotka","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":705501,"name":"Bradley Genovese","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":704522,"name":"Eugene Golts","orcid":"0000-0002-6289-5773","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":528663,"name":"Michael M. Madani","orcid":"0000-0001-8056-8007","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":270457,"name":"Robert L. Owens","orcid":"0000-0002-6515-6204","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":447839,"name":"Travis Pollema","orcid":"0009-0006-4987-0455","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":702744,"name":"Mazen Odish","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":28,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:46:28.747384Z","pmid":"34176676","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}