Current Concepts in Extracorporeal Life Support: Medical Management and Cannulation Simulations 2023

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is increasingly being used for refractory cardiopulmonary failure and its use in the adult population is gaining attention in clinical practice. The paucity of randomized clinical trials and guidelines has led to significant practice variation when trying to address the challenge of minimizing risk and maximizing benefit. This course provides the necessary framework for management of a patient requiring ECLS through the use of practical case-based scenarios, high-fidelity hands-on simulations, and discussion of current hot topics.

Target Audience
-ECMO specialists, respiratory therapists, nurses, perfusionists and physicians specializing in critical care medicine, pulmonary medicine, emergency medicine, cardiothoracic surgery, and cardiology. Also, those interested in a foundational education in caring for the ECMO patient may benefit from this course.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
-Identify the various forms of ECMO support and their role in clinical practice
-Describe anticoagulation, transfusion, and fluid management during ECMO
-Discuss hemodynamic assessment of ECMO patients including application of POCUS and TEE in management
-Summarize strategies for pharmacotherapy during ECMO
-Review patient selection criteria and optimal cannulation strategy to set up for success
-Discuss principles of ethics to delivery of ECMO care