NHS: ECMO Machines — Question

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:58 pm on 22nd April 2013.

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Photo of Earl Howe Earl Howe The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health 2:58 pm, 22nd April 2013

I shall certainly take that idea away with me, but I think that there is broad consensus among the medical community that the key to success with ECMO is getting the patients connected to the equipment quickly. Although it is a moving scenario, all the evidence so far suggests that ECMO confers no benefit if some hours have elapsed since the cardiac arrest.