An 18-year-old drowning victim was successfully resuscitated using prehospital veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). Despite 24 min of submersion in water with a surface temperature of 15 °C, the patient was cannulated on-scene and transported to a trauma center. After ICU admission on VA-ECMO, he was decannulated and extubated by day 5. He was transferred to a peripheral hospital on day 6 and discharged home after 3.5 weeks with favorable neurological outcome of a Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC) score of 1 out of 5. This case underscores the potential of prehospital ECMO in drowning cases within a well-equipped emergency response system.
Keyphrases
- extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
- cardiac arrest
- acute respiratory distress syndrome
- cardiopulmonary resuscitation
- trauma patients
- emergency medical
- respiratory failure
- healthcare
- emergency department
- mechanical ventilation
- intensive care unit
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- risk assessment
- cerebral ischemia
- gestational age
- climate change
- blood brain barrier