#ecmo

[the-vegetarian-artist]

Donate to Support Brian’s Recovery and Family, organized by Jenny Rosa

Brian is my coworker, and I’ve had the privilege of working alongside him for quite som… Jenny Rosa needs your support for Support Brian’s R

Monday (June 22nd) around 11am my father went into sudden cardiac arrest and fell at work. If it weren't for Jennifer, Iris, and Jerome (coworkers and his boss) my father would be dead. Jerome and Iris found my father after hearing him collapse. Jennifer performed cpr and was able to restart his heart with a defibrillator ON SITE. Something I personally feel as though should be a standard everywhere.

When he arrived at the hospital- they immediately rushed him to surgery and put him on a heart life support known as ECMO. As of today (Wednesday June 24th) he was taken off of ECMO nad his heart is STRONG. Unfortunately in the same day he received a CT scan. There is swelling on his brain. We won't know the cause until a more detailed imaging is done with a MRI.

We know its slim, but we hope with around the clock care and support my dad will recover, maybe not to his fullest, but the brain is both incredibly fragile and yet incredible in the way it rewires and creates new connections to compensate.

So please I implore you to donate or at the very least share this gofundme so at the very least my father's hospital bills are the least of my family's worries.

I also have a cashapp that if anyone wants to donate where the funds actively go towards me and my family for food and other bills during this time as im driving back in forth from my home an hour away to the hospital just cause I have too many responsibilities where I can't avoid just to be able to give him my fullest attention. I wanna be there without a worry for my family. My father was the main source of income unfortunately..

Dm me for the cashapp

[xpiece-ws]

I'm feeling really bad. Devastated. I don't want to lose the person that changed my destiny.

It happened by mere casualty. Not long ago (not even 3 months ago), that I knew the most awesome, empathetic and caring person I've ever met.

The most mentally stable and strong person that crossed its life path with mine, decided to become my guardian, and not to judge such an emotional and unstable being as myself.

Just some weeks after that, we began to plan our future together. Living place, children, pets, decorations. Everything.

We are commited to each other. We know we belong to each other. We love each other, unconditionally.

We don't live close, so it's cool to plan the reuniting trip. It's something we both cherish and enjoy. Distance is painful, but the reunion is wonderful. Missing each other is just as necessary, as the countless kisses that we spread on the lips and bodies of each other, when we reunite.

But… a week from now, everything changed. My partner got really sick, so he had to rest all the time. No more communication for a whole day, that I really thought he was about to leave me. Well, didn't thought all by myself, my fatalistic thoughts wanted me to fall again on the pit of despair, and I let'em do it…

On the night, after I apologized for being so dramatic and he apologized for not having contacted me in the whole day, he explained me about his bad health condition. After I heard how was he feeling, I begged him to go to visit the doctor.

He did the next day, indeed. However, I'll give you one hint of the following events: private healthcare (insurance he had bc of working in an American company, even if he was living in Spain for a year now).

They didn't diagnosed him well. The worst part, as a nursing student myself, I already knew what did he had. His audios were the proof I needed to «diagnose» him with pneumonia, as I did had many patients connected to ventilatory support machines, so became quite perceptive to determine the state of lungs by hearing someone's breathing.

So, half a week after that, he ended up (finally) in a public hospital (bc his roommate called an ambulance). Long story short, as fast as the ambulance stepped the hospital, he ended up in the ICU, bc his lungs were so damaged that he needed to be intubated.

Now my Sun is battling for his own life, connected to an ECMO bc his lungs need to recover from the cursed infection, and its main reason is the bullshit that the sick asshole the American Citizens cherish as their President, spread as "the salvation against comunism": having an inaccessible private healthcare.

Understand me. I'm not a racist. My Sun is American too. I just despise everything your cursed system made to my partner.

I trust he's gonna win. Come on, no one that has defeated many times the God of Hyperdeath can lose its Determination against something as a damned infection, isn't it? So I keep my Hope.

He's critical but stable. That's really dangerous, but strong people survives, and I know he's strong. Also, he promised me a whole future together. He promised that he won't leave me, and I believe him.

Maybe I'm just being delusional… maybe I'm trying to repeat myself over and over again that he's stronger than the illness, when it's always 50/50 against any medical condition… But, by the other hand, I really want to believe that we have so many battles to fight together, as teammates and partners.

I guess I only have left to say something like "stay tuned", even if I'm only writing all of this to drain a bit my ruminating and to calm a bit the bad mental condition I'm having rn.

Thank you guys for staying and for reading it. That means a lot to me.

[willowreader]

'Worrisome' mutations found in H5N1 bird flu virus isolated from Canadian teenager

Genetic analysis of H5N1 bird flu virus that infected a Canadian teenager shows 'worrisome' mutations, new studies reveal.

I wondered what happened to the Canadian teenager with bird flu. It took a whole lot to save her. She is now recovered.

[christiancollege01]

BSc Perfusion Technology: A Life-Saving Career Students Are Now Searching For

Not everyone wants MBBS, but many students still want a meaningful healthcare career. That’s why the BSc Perfusion Technology course is becoming one of the fastest-growing medical options in India.

Perfusionists operate heart–lung machines during cardiac surgeries, assist transplant teams, and manage ECMO support in ICUs. Their work directly affects patient survival during complex procedures.

Why Students Choose This Course in 2025

With rising cardiac cases and upgraded ICUs, the demand for perfusionists has increased rapidly. Students prefer this field because it offers:

• Strong job stability • Hands-on work with life-support equipment • Opportunities in cardiac surgery & critical care • Growth paths in ECMO and transplant units • High demand in India and overseas

What You Learn in the Program

The course covers both medical sciences and technical training, including:

• Anatomy & Physiology • Perfusion Equipment • Cardiac Perfusion • Pharmacology • Critical Care Technology • Clinical OT training

The internship year gives students real exposure inside cardiac operating theatres and ICUs.

Career Opportunities

Graduates can work in:

✔ Cardiac Surgery OT ✔ ECMO Units ✔ Critical Care ICUs ✔ Transplant Teams ✔ Pediatric Cardiac Centers ✔ Medical Device Companies ✔ Academic Roles

Professionals with ECMO experience are especially in demand.

Salary & Growth

Freshers typically start at ₹28,000–₹45,000 per month. With experience in ECMO or transplant support, salaries can reach ₹1.2–2 lakh per month in major hospitals. International opportunities offer even higher packages.

Is This the Right Course for You?

Choose this path if you:

• Enjoy biology & medical technology • Want a hospital-based role • Prefer critical care environments • Look for a stable, impactful healthcare career

Perfusion Technology remains one of the most future-ready medical careers for science students.

[clonemedickix]

You remember that whole Umbara Arc, when Kix lost his cool and so desperately tried to pull his brothers to safety and render aid, even though it was hopeless and at risk of his own life? Everybody was present with him that day, given a little insight into his perspective. Or, who remembers the medic from Saving Private Ryan, who did the same in more graphic fashion, risking his life and losing it because it was better than watching others suffer?

I know how they felt. Not in the sense of my brothers and sisters are dying in a war, though we fight a different type or war. But in the perspective of watching the inevitable clutches of death take your patient, no matter how you fight, no matter the highly trained skills, no matter the expensive equipment and priceless experience brought to bear. Or when you realize that perhaps you’ve gone past the point of humane, trapping a soul in a broken body that can no longer support them. When no one listens to you, when you want to help but have your hands tied. When that ONE THING eludes you that could have helped. When you’ve moved so past the point of desperate that your team’s humor takes on a dark shape and you can only laugh to stave off the feelings of insanity at what you’re doing, how hopeless you feel, how much you’d like to leave and scream in a quiet place. When you feel invisible because everyone else has such tunnel vision they can no longer hear a voice of concern or reason.

It’s not because people don’t care. Rather, everyone cares so much that they really no longer know what to do. And so every team member walks away wondering if they did enough. Did they fail the patient? Did they miss the piece that could have fixed it all? Were they too afraid to speak up when that would have helped? Could they have saved that patient if only they’d done a little more, had some other idea, pushed that blood faster… anything. At the end of it all you’re left in silence, trying to recover and make sense of the storm. You’re left with ghosts, which will never leave you. Haunted by those you couldn’t save, who whisper to you in the quiet.

It’s not really even their voices you hear - it’s your self condemnation for not beating Death, for not being enough. Or at least, that’s what a good medic hears. The ones who care enough to let it drive you to save the next one. The ones who fight on in your memory, learn from the mistakes and the pain and the loss, who willingly carry your ghost with them for the rest of their lives and to the end of their usefulness.

I once had an experienced coworker from another specialty tell me, “You’re not normal. This unit is not normal. You should not walk among the dead like you’re in a war zone, and just go on to the next patient. How do you do this job?”

Because there’s always the next person you COULD save. Because life is worth fighting for. Because even after all the grief and failure and loss and heartbreak, somehow we stand up to try again. Because we have hope. Or at least, that’s what we tell ourselves when the call comes out for the next run. When we pull ourselves back together, shut our eyes to the devastation, and try again. This time we will win.

In the silence, I know what Kix felt, when Rex wrenched him from the line of fire. We can’t save them all, but by god will we try.

[theramblingsofshaniarose]

Quick Rant:

Why are gun rights protected more than abortion rights in the US? The process to get a gun should be HARDER than the process it takes for an abortion.

Americans are so blind to protecting gun rights over the right to an abortion. This makes me sick to my stomach. Gun rights get more protections than abortion does. And guns take away a human life. Abortion doesn’t.

About abortion rights: if you think about it, a fetus in a mother’s womb isn’t viable until 23 weeks gestation. The fetus isn’t even considered a baby, it’s more like a parasite… that parasite feeds off the host (the mom carrying it) for 23 weeks until they start being strong enough to not need that host. Hell, you could deliver that child at 23 weeks but they’ll still need neonatal intensive care up until they reach a certain goal weight before going home. (That goal weight usually is over 5lbs or sometimes even 6lbs)... they’d need what is known as ECMO which is Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, which delivers respiratory and cardiovascular support until the baby is strong enough that they don’t need it anymore and can be taken off it. Sure you can come at me all you want over “abortion is murder” but then you don’t realize that guns murder people every single day. Abortion is NOT murder. It’s a medical procedure that shouldn’t even be debated by the US Supreme Court. It should never be debated as women should have the right to choose what they do with their bodies without being penalized by a court that has mainly men on it.

Guns: The process to get a gun should be even harder than it is for a woman to seek an abortion. Why? Because they should have to pass a psychological, financial and emotional assessment before getting their hands on one, they should have to wait weeks in a queue before they’re accepted. Think of it is like a 17-year-old who wants to apply for a super-elite college like Harvard or New York University, they have to submit their high school transcript, along with their financial statements to afford it and a thesis to why they should get into that college they want to be taking their dream course at. That should be the same process for gun ownership, as a college enrollment form. People wanting guns should have to sit through a mental health assessment to prove they're capable of owning them. If that person is accepted, they should also be given the proper mechanism to keep the gun from being in the wrong hands. As you know, a gun safe with a key or a passcode on the door keeps it from being used when it shouldn't.

So tell me again why gun rights have more protection than abortion rights... I’ll wait. Oh yeah because Americans are ‘pro-life” or “pro-birth” but don't see the point when their children are murdered in a school shooting... Then they ask for policy and change.

[torturing-characters-101]

maybe this is a little vague, but how long would it take for a coma patient to die after their life support is withdrawn?

Very interesting question. It depends on what life support measures are being implemented, and how dependent on them the person is.

Life support is a range of different machines and therapies designed to keep a person alive. This ranges from something called ECMO, which effectively takes over for the heart and lungs for temporary periods, to simply a tube that goes from the nose to the stomach to deliver food and water to a person who cannot eat or drink.

As stated above, the most intensive life support is ECMO, which is essentially a machine that takes over the functions of the heart and lungs temporarily- oxygenating blood outside the body and circulating it. This is usually used in open heart surgery, though it can be used in some ICUs for longer periods of time. Assuming the person is entirely dependent on ECMO (as in, they do not have heart or lung function on their own), they would begin to die within minutes of ECMO being withdrawn.

Next down might be something like a ventilator. Ventilators have different modes that allow a person who has some respiratory function on their own to continue exercising it while being supported mechanically.

For example, someone may be on a ventilator only to provide extra pressure to overcome the resistance from a tube that goes from their mouth to their lungs to hold open their airway, and sometimes it adds pressure to make it easier for the person to pull in breaths. This person can probably breathe on their own for an indeterminate amount of time and would not necessarily die if the ventilator was withdrawn, though they may have trouble keeping their airway open or they may tire out easily trying to breathe.

Another vent setting involves the patient breathing as much as they can, and the ventilator serving as a backup. If the person doesn't take a breath in a set number of seconds, the ventilator gives them one. This person may survive for a while afterwards, but would likely eventually die due to high levels of carbon dioxide in their blood. It might be any time between an hour or less to several days before the person's death.

The highest setting on most vents still allows the patient to initiate breaths, but every breath they take is assisted to ensure it is a complete breath, and the machine also delivers a set number of breaths every minute. Someone who is dependent on this mode may pass within minutes of being taken off the vent and likely wouldn't live more than an hour or so, dying from lack of oxygen or buildup of carbon dioxide.

Another life support device is a cooling blanket. When certain parts of the brain are damaged (such as the parts that are damaged after a long period without oxygen), the person cannot control their own temperature, and they tend to get extremely overheated by their own metabolism. Temps can get into the 110's *F, which kills pretty quickly. Fever-reducing drugs are not effective. This would also be someone who could last anywhere from an hour or so to a couple of days, though their brain would quickly become more and more damaged during this time.

The least intensive form of life support would be the provision of food or water through an NG tube- a tube that goes from the nose to the stomach and allows medications and tube feed (water and basic nutrition) to be delivered to the stomach. If this is withdrawn and IV fluids are not provided, the person may live a week or more before dying of dehydration. If they are, for some reason, given IV fluids, they may live months.

Note that a person may be on a combination of modalities (like it would be weird for someone to be on a ventilator without an NG tube).

-Ross ( @macgyvermedical)

[mdrambles]

Okay so on anaesthesia the other day I literally just realized that the placenta is a human in-vivo ECMO model for fetuses and that's extremely metal

Correction: one of the dudes in my study group is in peds nephro and he added that the placenta >>> ECMO because it also provides CRRT!