TECHNIQUE OR APPLICATION
Foundations of a life support equipment exchange platform
Justin R . Sleasman ( MS , CCP , FPP ) 1 ,* , Ula Hijawi ( MS ) 2 , Abdullah Alsalemi ( BS ) 2 , Mohamed Rabie ( MS ) 2 , Mohammad Noorizadeh ( BS ) 2 , Aidan Stead ( BS ) 3 , Christopher Cooley ( BS ) 3 , Conor Donnelly ( MPH ) 3 , Jonathan W . Haft ( MD ) 4 , Darryl Abrams ( MD ) 5 , Christine Stead ( MHSA ) 6 , Kathleen R . Ryan ( MD ) 7 , Peter Rycus 8 , Alexander D . Fox ( MHSA ) 9 , Mark T . Ogino ( MD ) 10 , and Peta M . A . Alexander ( MBBS , BSc Hons , FRACP , FCICM ) 1 , 11
1 Lead Perfusionist , Stanford Medicine Children ’ s Health , 725 Welch Road , Palo Alto , CA 94304 , USA 2 Researcher and Project Team Leader , Qatar University , Doha , Qatar 3 Interns , Extracorporeal Life Support Organization , Ann Arbor , MI 48103 , USA 4 Department of Cardiac Surgery , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI 48109 , USA 5 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine , Columbia University Irving Medical Center , New York , NY 10032 , USA 6 CEO , Extracorporeal Life Support Organization and Adjunct Faculty , University of Michigan School of Public Health , Health
Management and Policy , Ann Arbor , MI 48103 , USA 7 Department of Pediatrics , Division of Cardiology , Stanford Medicine Children ’ s Health and Stanford University School of Medicine , Palo Alto , CA 94304 , USA 8 Executive Director , Extracorporeal Life Support Organization , Ann Arbor , MI 48103 , USA 9 Project Manager , Extracorporeal Life support Organization , Ann Arbor , MI 48103 , USA 10 Pediatric Neonatal-Perinatal , Critical Care Service , Division of Neonatology Nemours / Alfred I . du Pont Hospital for Children ,
Wilmington , DE 19803 , USA 11 Department of Cardiology , Boston Children ’ s Hospital and Department of Pediatrics Harvard Medical School , Boston ,
MA 02115 , USA Received 22 August 2022 , Accepted 12 December 2022
Abstract – Background : The Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Supplies Platform (
https :// Supplies . ELSO . org ) was created out of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ( ECMO ) disposable product shortage prior to and during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ) pandemic . This novel Platform supports Centers in obtaining disposables from other Centers when alternative avenues are exhausted . Methods : Driven by the opportunity for increased patient care by using the product availability of the 962 ELSO centers worldwide was the motivation to form an efficient online supply sharing Platform . The pandemic created by COVID-19 became a catalyst to further recognize the magnitude of the supply disruption on a global scale , impacting allocations and guidelines for institutions , practice , and patient care . Conclusions : Records kept on the Platform website are helpful to the industry by providing insights into where difficulties exist in the supply chain for needed equipment . Yet , the common thread is awareness , of how critical situations can stretch resources and challenge our resolve for the best patient care . ELSO is proud to support member centers in these situations , by providing a means of attaining needed ECMO life support products to cover supply shortages .
Key words : Critical Care , Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ( ECMO ), Supply Chain , COVID-19 , ELSO Supply Platform , Pilot Program .
* Corresponding author : jsleasman @ stanfordchildrens . org
The Extracorporeal Life Support Organization ( ELSO ) is an international , non-profit consortium of institutions dedicated to the development and use of therapies for the support of failing organ systems . Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ( ECMO ) is an invasive , resource-intensive rescue strategy for critically ill patients with respiratory and / or cardiorespiratory failure not responsive to standard therapies [ 1 ]. ECMO utilization reported to the ELSO Registry has increased exponentially in the last 10 years [ 2 ]. Coupled with the rapid rise in use , manufacturing supply disruptions of cardiopulmonary products on the global market cause intermittent shortages of products that may not be distributed uniformly across centers [ 3 – 5 ]. The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed supply disruption on a global scale , impacting allocations and availability of ECMO circuit
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