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Introduction: Emergency physician-initiated Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO/ECPR/ECLS) is gaining critical mass as a successful rescue strategy for patients requiring resuscitation. Wang et al. (2014), Bellezzo et al. (2012) and others have demonstrated promising results of survival to discharge with good neurological function in patients who were resistant to existing treatment protocols after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. As Saskatchewan does not yet utilize ECMO for cardiac arrest, the objective of this study was to examine the number of adult cardiac arrest patients in the urban emergency departments (EDs) of Saskatchewan who may benefit from the use of ECMO. Methods: Using a retrospective review, we identified 401 patients who died after presenting with cardiac arrest between January 1st, 2013 and December 31st, 2014. Of the original 401, 136 were female and 264 were male, with a mean age of 60.1±20.2 years. The charts of 22 (5.5%) trauma patients were excluded because the suitability of ECMO in these patients is uncertain. Results: For the 379 non-trauma patients, the mean resuscitation length was 41.6±32.8 minutes (median=42 minutes) and 125 of these patients received prehospital mechanical CPR. We applied Bellezzo et al.’s (2012) inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify prospective candidates for ECMO. In total, 53 patients (14.0%) with a mean age of 57.1±13.4 years old, represent suitable candidates for ECMO. 260 (68.6%) were deemed unsuitable either because they failed the inclusion criteria or met explicit exclusion criteria. The remainder (66 [17.4%]) were unsuitable because of age. Conclusion: With 1 in 7 patients potentially representing suitable candidates for ECMO, this is a technique that warrants consideration for implementation in the EDs of Saskatchewan.
