San Diego City Wire

San Diego County News Center

ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, is a medical procedure for critical care patients with life-threatening heart or lung failure. An ECMO machine pumps blood out of a patient’s body, adds oxygen, removes carbon dioxide, and then pumps the blood back into the body.

In 2022, San Diego County brought local medical leaders together to create the San Diego Resuscitation Consortium (SDRC), with the goal of saving more lives using ECMO. A new system of care was established, and last year, the County launched the “Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR)” pilot program.

Paramedics identify patients in the community and take them to one of three local hospitals—Sharp Memorial, Scripps La Jolla, and Sharp Grossmont—that joined the program. In just one year, the Emergency Physicians who placed patients in full cardiac arrest outside of the hospital on ECMO saved lives that would have otherwise been lost. The program may soon become a new standard and transform cardiac arrest care worldwide.

Not all patients suffering sudden cardiac arrest are good candidates for the program. For those who are, ECMO can bring them back from certain death. Patients like Michelle Alvarado are living proof.