We perform ground and aerial ECMO transports together with our partners. The Bergmannsheil hospital in Bochum (Germany) is one of the few clinics that is aready using a mobile ECMO machine which is certified for both helicopter-based and ICU ground-transports.
We apply this process as a heart and lung support-system. Basically an ECMO machine replaces the heart and lung function. Most commonly we need it for serious ARDS (Acute respiratory distress syndrome) cases or in the case of cardiac arrest.
Catheters can already have been implemented in the clinic to keep the window in which an artifical lung and heart function is applied as short as possible.
As mentioned above, the ECMO machine consists of two components. One is are artifical lungs for oxygen-supply and the other is a blood-pumping mechanism to temporarily replace the heart function. A mobile monitor controls the entire system. These components weigh around 20 kilograms (~45 lbs) which makes it one of the lightest systems in the industry. In comparison: an ordinary ECMO machine weighs around 200 kilograms (~450 lbs).
This concept became a reality because cardio-technicians, heart-surgeons, emergency surgeons and anaesthesists collaborated at Bergmannsheil to create it. The manufacturer MAQUET optimized it for mobile application in helicopters and ICU transports. We're your partner for any ground transports. We've passed official certification and hospitals assigning necessary transports can access our transport service at any time.
The hospital Bergmannsheil and MedCareProfessional are one of very very few service providers who offer an officially licenced ECMO transport solution in entire Germany - and we're proud of this major achievement.