Welcome to ED ECMO, the site to learn about resuscitative ECMO and ECLS.
Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Zack and Joe are emergency physicians practicing in a suburban Emergency Department in San Diego, California. In 2010, Joe was talking with Walter Dembitsky, MD, one of the pioneers of extracorporeal life support and percutaneous ECMO. What came out of this conversation was the question, “Why aren’t we doing ECMO/ECLS for cardiac arrest in the ED?” ECLS is mobile, ECLS is performed via big femoral central lines that ED docs can place, and the inpatient studies available show a huge benefit when compared with traditional resuscitation.
Over the next several months, Joe and Zack began incorporating ECLS into a resuscitation strategy for arresting patients, who were failing traditional therapies. The outcomes were amazing.
Our Goals
The goal of this site is to raise the awareness of ECLS in the Emergency Department. We want to show you how you can use percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass in your emergency department.
So stop with the crappy one-handed CPR already! Come with us as we change the world of resuscitation!
Hosts/Editors
Zack Shinar, MD
Zack works full time at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California as a board certified emergency physician. He co-directs the ED ECLS program with Joe and is the chair of the Emergency Department. He is involved with medical education with high school students (Emerge), medical students and residents (UCSD and USC). He graduated as chief resident from Los Angeles County/USC Emergency Medicine Program. He studied bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate. Email: zshinar@hotmail.com Social: @zackshinar
