HEMS Debrief #13 – The PreCare (ECPR) Trial: Prehospital ECMO in Sydney, Australia

Podcasts – Greater Sydney Area HEMS

Welcome back to The Sydney HEMS Debrief, now on episode 13.

Today we are talking about the PreCare trial, currently underway here in Sydney. This feasibility trial – a first for Sydney – concerns placing patients suffering out of hospital cardiac arrest onto potentially life-saving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy in the field, before transporting them to definitive care.

To discuss more, we are joined again by Dr Nat Kruitt, Staff Specialist here at Sydney HEMS and Specialist in Cardiac Anaesthesia and ECMO, as well as Alex Peters, one of the Sydney HEMS Critical Care Paramedics. We will discuss how and why the trial came about, the practical application and workflow considerations of placing an eligible patient onto pre-hospital ECMO, as well as some future considerations for this innovative therapy.

This episode is a must listen for other pre-hospital providers in the greater Sydney basin who may come into contact with the ECMO team, as well as those interested in eCPR and ECMO more broadly.

I hope you enjoy it!