To anyone who is unaware of the ECMO Airlift+Lung Transplant procedure, here are the basic steps involved:
Verify availability of ECMO at a facility (in our case one with Lungs transplant)
Arrange for an Air Ambulance service with ECMO support.
Verify the transit ECMO team of the Air Ambulance
Brief the Air Ambulance’s ECMO team with the patient’s status
Brief the destination ECMO+lung transplant facility with the patient’s status.
Get the source, transit, destination medical teams to exchange information and work together in synergy.
Verify the patient is in a condition to be airlifted.
If everything is a Green signal, make an upfront payment to the Air Ambulance
The Transit ECMO team arrives and stabilizes the patient which takes 10hrs or more
Given the infections are in check and the body stabilizes, the patient is airlifted.
The patient is handed over at the destination hospital.
Make an ECMO initiation fee payment along with ICU admission charges to the hospital (10-15 lacs upfront)
The patient is monitored for at least a week to observe signs of progress.
If there are no signs of improvement, the patient is prepared for a transplant procedure given the infections are in check.
The wait of a donor can last several months until then the patient has to be maintained on ECMO with daily charges ranging from 2-3 Lacs and can blow up in case of complications and secondary infections.
P.s. Every step comes with additional risks and precautions. It is more difficult than it sounds. One wrong decision can cost us dearly and the burden of failure can be insurmountable.