Just like the SAMU in Paris, the emergency physicians of the SAMU in Lyon can now perform cardiopulmonary bypass surgery on a patient in cardiac arrest directly at the scene of the accident. They have already been able to save lives thanks to this new technique.
ECMO used by SAMU
In the event of cardiac arrest, the SAMU de Lyon is now deploying a machine providing two functions: the heart pump and the pulmonary oxygenator. It is used directly at the intervention site. This resuscitation technique outside the hospital was first tested by the SAMU in Paris. From now on, the emergency physicians in Lyon can also call upon it and thus allow certain patients, victims of cardiac arrest and refractory to traditional resuscitation, to “resuscitate”.
As a reminder, the veino-arterial ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) is an extracorporeal circulation technique which diverts the blood circulation thanks to a machine which acts both as a heart pump and as a pulmonary oxygenator. This technique has long been reserved for cardiac surgery units to ensure oxygenation of the brain during open heart operations. when the heart muscle is momentarily stopped, the time for the operation.
Emergency physicians in Lyon were able to resuscitate 4 patients
In 2012, doctors from the Paris SAMU tested the device directly at the site of the cardiac arrest. ” On a population of cardiac arrests selected as potentially having a good neurological prognosis, the results are now at the rendezvous with 35% sequelae-free survival », Explains to The Dispatch professionals from the Hospices Civils de Lyon.
Since the start of the Paris partnership with the SAMU de Lyon, in September 2017, the five emergency physicians in the city who were trained in this technique were able to resuscitate 4 out of 15 patients, without brain damage, which represents 30% success. This device, unique in the world, calls out to doctors in other countries, in particular those in the cities of London and Barcelona, who could also test the technique on patients.
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