Skip Navigation
Book Now! Find care near you Find care near you Find care near you
wellstar-logo
Wellstar Go Back
Go to MyChart

Questions? We can help!

Call (770) 956-STAR (7827)

Monday - Friday, 7 AM - 4:30 PM

Contact Us
For Patients & Families Community For Providers About Us Careers
  • Start Your Care

  • Find a Doctor
  • Find a Location
  • Our Services
  • Virtual Visits
  • Planning

  • Accepted Insurance
  • Financial Assistance
  • Pricing Information
  • Before Your Visit

  • Sign Up for MyChart
  • Visitation Guidelines
  • Pick a Caregiver
  • While You're Here

  • Support & Entertainment
  • Join an Event
  • After Your Visit

  • Pay Your Bill
  • Get Medical Records
  • Contact us
  • COVID-19 Support

  • COVID-19 Information
  • Vaccines
  • Testing Information
  • Visitation Updates
  • Foundation Relief
  • Community Health

  • Health Highlights
  • Community Health Needs Assessment
  • Latest News
  • Center for Health Equity
  • Events & Programs

  • Community Outreach
  • Events Calendar
  • On-Demand Classes
  • Support Groups
  • Give

  • Wellstar Foundation
  • Donate
  • Ways to Give
  • Thank a Caregiver
  • Volunteer

  • For Adults
  • Care

  • Transfer a Patient
  • Cures Act
  • Refer a Patient
  • Lab Test Directory
  • Request to Conduct Research
  • Connect

  • Physician Relations
  • Request Imaging Services
  • Wellstar Clinical Partners
  • Wellstar Medical Group
  • Mayo Clinic Care Network
  • Log In

  • EpicCare Link
  • Lawson Connect
  • MyID Password Reset
  • Citrix Access
  • Leadership

  • Authority Board
  • Board Of Trustees
  • Foundation Board
  • Regional Health Boards
  • Executive Leadership
  • Awards, Recognition & Safety

  • Accreditation & Certifications
  • Awards & Recognition
  • Safety First Program
  • Careers at Wellstar

  • Apply now
  • Upcoming virtual events
  • Why Wellstar?
  • Nursing Careers

  • Nursing (Direct Care)
  • Nursing Leadership
  • Nursing (Non-bedside)
  • Nursing Support
  • Physician, APP & Clinical Careers

  • Advanced Practice Providers (APPs)
  • Allied Health Professionals
  • Homecare & Hospice
  • Physicians
  • Support Team Careers

  • Administrative & Clerical
  • Coding, Compliance & HIM Systems
  • Facility, Environmental & Nutrition/Food Services
  • Information Technology & Systems
  • For Patients & Families
  • Community
  • For Providers
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Search Search Search
  • MyChart MyChart MyChart

Start Your Care

Find a DoctorFind a LocationOur ServicesVirtual Visits

Planning

Accepted InsuranceFinancial AssistancePricing Information

Before Your Visit

Sign Up for MyChartVisitation GuidelinesPick a Caregiver

While You're Here

Support & EntertainmentJoin an Event

After Your Visit

Pay Your BillGet Medical RecordsContact us

COVID-19 Support

COVID-19 InformationVaccinesTesting InformationVisitation UpdatesFoundation Relief

Community Health

Health HighlightsCommunity Health Needs AssessmentLatest NewsCenter for Health Equity

Events & Programs

Community OutreachEvents CalendarOn-Demand ClassesSupport Groups

Give

Wellstar FoundationDonateWays to GiveThank a Caregiver

Volunteer

For Adults

Care

Transfer a PatientCures ActRefer a PatientLab Test DirectoryRequest to Conduct Research

Connect

Physician RelationsRequest Imaging ServicesWellstar Clinical PartnersWellstar Medical GroupMayo Clinic Care Network

Log In

EpicCare LinkLawson ConnectMyID Password ResetCitrix Access
About Wellstar

Our patients are the center of everything we do. We're nationally ranked and locally recognized for our high-quality care, inclusive culture, exceptional doctors and caregivers, and one of the largest and most integrated healthcare systems in Georgia.

About Us

Leadership

Authority BoardBoard Of TrusteesFoundation BoardRegional Health BoardsExecutive Leadership

Awards, Recognition & Safety

Accreditation & CertificationsAwards & RecognitionSafety First Program

Careers at Wellstar

Apply nowUpcoming virtual eventsWhy Wellstar?

Nursing Careers

Nursing (Direct Care)Nursing LeadershipNursing (Non-bedside)Nursing Support

Physician, APP & Clinical Careers

Advanced Practice Providers (APPs)Allied Health ProfessionalsHomecare & HospicePhysicians

Support Team Careers

Administrative & ClericalCoding, Compliance & HIM SystemsFacility, Environmental & Nutrition/Food ServicesInformation Technology & Systems
Questions? We can help!

Call (770) 956-STAR (7827)

Monday - Friday, 7 AM - 4:30 PM

Contact Us
Close
  • Urgent Care
  • Primary Care
  • Virtual Care
  • Emergency Care
Close Close Close Book Now Menu
  • Urgent Care
  • Primary Care
  • Virtual Care
  • Emergency Care

Online Scheduling

Book Your Next Appointment

Primary care for you and your family, close to home.

Schedule Appointment

Introducing

Wellstar Virtual Care

Access Wellstar healthcare providers
wherever you are.

Get started

Warning Warning Our "Book Now" feature should not be used for life threatening conditions such as heart attack, severe injury, poisoning, chest pain, or stroke. If you are experiencing such conditions, STOP and CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY or visit your nearest Emergency Department.

I Understand
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Unique Challenges for ECMO in this Pandemic
Article Category: Article

Unique Challenges for ECMO in this Pandemic

Dr. Asif Saberi

Published on September 20, 2021

Last updated 02:50 PM September 20, 2021

article-image

By Dr. Asif Saberi, Medical Director of Critical Care and ECMO at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center & Associate Professor of Medicine at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta State University

This wave of the pandemic is unique. We have learned a lot about COVID-19 as a disease, and we have more therapeutic options today than we did in the spring and summer of 2020. But the disease continues to humble us with its tenacity and increased deadliness with each new iteration or surge, and now with its onslaught on the young and the healthy, it is hitting us where it hurts the most.

As a system, we continue to struggle with limited human resources. There are not as many healthcare workers as we need and the steadfast warriors who have stayed at their posts through about 18 months of the pandemic are weary and burnout is high.

This is an important rate-limiting step in our ability to provide one specific therapy, viz., ECMO, which, for a significant number of young people in the extreme manifestation of the disease, is possibly the difference between life and death. At my institution, the phones have not stopped ringing and we maintain a long list of patients who need ECMO. The most heart-wrenching task for us is the daily sorting of our list, moving someone down and eventually off the list as their likelihood of benefit from ECMO and ultimately survival recedes with time.

This is a call to my colleagues in ECMO. Physicians, ECMO specialists, perfusionists, ethicists, and thinkers. As a breed, we are constantly thinking about solutions that are not in any book. Can we solve this problem?

Our ability to provide one specific therapy, ECMO, for a significant number of young people in the extreme manifestation of the disease, is possibly the difference between life and death.

- Dr. Asif Saberi

Wellstar Medical Director of Critical Care & ECMO

Access to ECMO

It cannot be stated enough that we do not have enough ECMO capacity for what our communities need today. While we need to increase the overall number of centers performing ECLS, this is not a good short-term solution. The ECMOVIBER study showed an increase in COVID-19 ECMO mortality on the Iberian peninsula during the second surge. This, the authors thought was to be due to an increase in ECMO use at newer and smaller centers. Our immediate need is to increase access to high-volume centers with experience in providing ECLS.

The recent struggles of a family trying to gain access to ECMO for their 30-year-old are emblematic of the issue. The family frantically called centers around the country. They found a center that would take him but needed someone local to cannulate him and asked us to help. Eventually, due to logistical reasons, the patient did not transfer to that center. The plight of his family was featured in the news on a local channel and another center reached out and accepting him. Should families and physicians have to resort to these extraordinary measures to find an ECMO program?

Or can we as an ECMO community provide a central resource that can be tapped by any of our colleagues caring for such a patient? Combine that with someone to coordinate authorizations, transport options, a network of local experts to call upon for cannulation, can we make a dent in this ECMO availability problem?

Longer length of stay & native lung function recovery

Pre-pandemic, our average ECMO length of stay (LOS) was less than seven days. During the pandemic, we estimate our average LOS is now more than twenty days. Some of these patients need support for much longer, even several weeks longer. During this wait, it is critical to maintain and preserve neuromuscular strength and cognitive function and prevent hospital-acquired conditions including nosocomial infections through excellent care.

At our center, we have advocated for and created a comprehensive list of services that we now use to achieve this important goal. These include an aggressive move to mobilize patients as early on ECLS as possible, early tracheostomy, incorporation of virtual and actual family interaction in care. These are, however, resource-intensive. But for those of our patients who have not recovered native lung function, such services were critical to demonstrating candidacy for transplant.

There is an opportunity for us to develop Long-Term ECLS Centers (LTECs), perhaps in collaboration with local transplant centers where we can consolidate these resources for the benefit of patients at several centers. This will have the benefit of unloading the ECMO centers, increasing ECMO availability, while providing the much-needed longer-term care some COVID-19 ECMO patients need.

None of us can solve this problem by ourselves or for ourselves. We need to do this as a community of ECMO providers in the U.S. and the world.

To learn more about how Wellstar is fighting the virus on the frontlines, visit our COVID-19 resource page.

Tags

Asif Ali Saberi COVID-19 Pulmonary Care
Back to Top
Branding illustration
Wellstar Logo
More than healthcare. PeopleCare.
Branding illustration
For Job Seekers & Team
Careers Onboarding
For Students
Students Portal
Graduate Medical Education
Atlanta Medical Center Kennestone Hospital
For Business
Occupational Medicine Corporate Purchasing
For the Media
Media Room Community Health Needs Assessment
Help
Contact Us Pay Your Bill Policy & Privacy Information Hospital Transparency Information
For Job Seekers & Team
Careers Onboarding
For Students
Students Portal

Graduate Medical Education
Atlanta Medical Center Kennestone Hospital
For Business
Occupational Medicine Corporate Purchasing
For the Media
Media Room Community Health Needs Assessment
Help
Contact Us Pay Your Bill Policy & Privacy Information Hospital Transparency Information

Copyright © 2022 Wellstar Health System. All Rights Reserved.

Wellstar does not discriminate on, exclude people or treat them differently on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity or expression or any other type of discrimination prohibited by law.