extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

August 15, 2023

Pediatric ECMO program receives top recognition from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt’s receives top designation by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization

By Jessica Pasley
John Pietsch, MD, founder of the ECMO program at Children’s Hospital, is retiring after 50 years of caring for patients.
July 14, 2022

Pediatric ECMO program founder Pietsch retires

John Pietsch, MD, the recently retired founder of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, didn’t grow up wanting to be a doctor.

By Jessica Pasley
Current and former ECLS (ECMO) fellows include, from left, John Stokes, MD, Yuliya Tipograf, MD, Yatrik Patel, MD, and Sean Francois, MD.
March 17, 2022

ECMO fellowship program provides lifesaving training

Vanderbilt’s extracorporeal life support fellowship gives new doctors two years of hands-on experience with a lifesaving critical care tool, one that has only become more important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Matt Batcheldor
VUMC’s Mike West, RN, works with Ballad Health’s Jessie Blevins, RN, during a recent ECMO training session.
January 27, 2022

Initiative shares ECMO expertise with Ballad Health

Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently hosted representatives of Ballad Health, a regional health system serving East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, to train its team to provide a life-saving medical program called ECMO.

By Matt Batcheldor
August 13, 2020

Children’s Hospital ECMO program lands excellence award

For the fifth straight time, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt’s heart-lung support program has received the ELSO Award — Gold Level for Excellence in Life Support by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).

By Christina Echegaray
VUMC’s ECMO program has expanded to areas outside of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.
August 6, 2020

Extracorporeal life support program honored by ELSO

Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s extracorporeal life support (ECLS) program has received the gold level award for excellence in life support from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).

By Matt Batcheldor
July 30, 2020

Walk celebrates patient’s ECMO journey 30 years ago

Thirty years ago, Shawn Drumgoole took a life-saving ride to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to be placed on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).
By Jessica Pasley
March 12, 2020

ECMO team to help other providers create their own programs

VUMC has signed an agreement with Ballad Health, a regional health system serving East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, to train its team to provide a life-saving medical program called ECMO.
By Matt Batcheldor
February 20, 2020

Gannon to oversee efforts to expand ECMO program to additional units

Whitney Gannon MSN, MS, RN, APRN, has been named to the new position of director of Quality and Education for the Vanderbilt Extracorporeal Life Support Program (ECLS).
By Matt Batcheldor
December 13, 2018

LifeFlight first in state to offer ECMO transport via helicopter

Vanderbilt LifeFlight is part of an elite group of air ambulance services across the country that offer emergency transport of critically ill patients who are on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), and it is the first helicopter program in Tennessee to offer this highly skilled, specialized transport.
By Jerry Jones
September 28, 2017

ECMO program takes life-saving therapy on the road

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is home to the state’s largest adult Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Program. And most recently, it became the only adult program in Tennessee with a mobile team that can initiate ECMO on patients transported to the Medical Center by its ambulances.
By Jessica Pasley
January 10, 2013

Group again honors life-support program

For the third straight time, Vanderbilt’s heart and lung life-support program has received the ELSO Award for Excellence in Life Support by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).
By VUMC News and Communications