Carrie Walking on ECMO 

We were the patients in this video so I can't answer everything but there was 1 RN, 2 PT and 2 Perfusionists. Behind the scenes was a tech with oxygen ready, Her mother, me, and a few doctors and extra nurses just ready in case we needed anything. At the time of this video, Baylor had only just begun the use of ECMO and they had perfusionists on the floor 24/7 while the nursing staff was trained. Carrie was their first VV ECMO patient to be up and walking which was particularly important in her case. She has cystic fibrosis and had an acute lung infection that cause rapid deterioration which required a lung transplant. The doctor had just come down from the Cleveland Clinic and said with no uncertainty that she must be up and walking as soon as she wok up after surgery. The ECMO was used unofficially as a bridge to transplant, allowing Carrie to survive long enough for a set of lungs to arrive. This was the first time to do this for everyone in the room and Carrie was the most confident one out of all of us. They attempted to place the VV device in her left side but years of PICC lines caused so much scarring that they had to use her neck. The cannula was long and rigid so without stabilizing it to her head, she would be in a great deal of pain and had increased bleeding. Now they have purpose made straps but at the time, we would pad her ear with gauze and wrap it around her head. I, her husband, ended up doing it most of the time because I had figured out the most comfortable way to attach everything. Her ear ended up being one of the most painful things because hard plastic was constantly pressed up against it. Another note, the PT team told her to not look at the ground or else she would end up on the floor. I was coaching her to keep her eyes up so that she wouldn't fall, not because I wanted a good video.

Carrie has Cystic Fibrosis and the thick mucus caused by her disease makes the use of a ventilator very dangerous. On a vent, CFers are unable to clear the mucus and rapidly deteriorate. We witnessed this first hand exactly 5 years ago today when her brother passed away in the same ICU due to complications from CF. He was unable to get lungs in time and they had not started their ECMO program yet.