Paediatric patients across NSW will now have better access to advanced technology which provides live saving critical care and life support, thanks to the Kids ECMO Referral Service (KERS).
Hosted by Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN), the statewide service enables Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) to be provided on the road using specially designed mobile equipment and highly specialised retrieval teams.
ECMO provides temporary life support for critically ill patients who have reversible acute respiratory or cardiac failure that are not responding to conventional treatments.
The therapy uses a mechanical pump to take blood from the patient, remove the carbon dioxide and add oxygen to the blood before recirculating it through the body. By doing the work of the heart and lungs, ECMO allows the heart and lungs to rest and recover while the patient’s condition is treated.
It can be used to help manage conditions including severe infection or sepsis caused by bacteria, influenza or enterovirus as well as other severe forms of neonatal and paediatric heart and lung disease.
“KERS is a lifesaving service for children who are failing conventional intensive care and builds on the capacity of our two children’s hospitals to enable us to provide ECMO remotely,” Kids ECMO Referral Service Medical Director Dr Marino Festa said.
“What we have been able to do is offer a referral service to local hospitals where they can get highly specialised advice and guidance on the most critically ill patients to determine if they will benefit from ECMO. If the answer is yes, we can deploy a team within an hour and get that child the urgent care they need while on the road, instead of waiting until they get to a paediatric hospital in Sydney.”
The service will be available to families across the Cowra shire, who are referred to the KERS program, helping stabilise children while transport is arranged.
“This service has been made possible through the collaboration of expert clinicians and existing health services within the state. It has the potential to truly transform the care available to children and families and positively impact outcomes, particularly in the regional and remote parts of our state,” Dr Festa said.
Two-year-old Jack was the first patient to be placed on mobile ECMO using the KERS service. Jack was born with severe meconium aspiration at his local hospital in Canberra, meaning his lungs weren’t working properly. Within 24 hours, the KERS team attended Canberra Hospital, placed Jack on mobile ECMO and transferred him with the support of the NETS team to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
The intervention saved Jack’s life and thankfully, he made a full recovery. Jack is now back home in Canberra, with no need for follow up care.
Mobile ECMO for neonatal and paediatric patients was established in NSW in December 2022, with the advanced intensive care therapy previously only able to be provided for children in two paediatric specialist hospitals: The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) and Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick (SCH).
The KERS team provides highly specialised advice to local hospitals and can be deployed within an hour, once mobile ECMO is determined to be the best option for treatment. KERS is led by a dedicated paediatric ECMO intensive care specialist, and comprises a cardiothoracic surgeon, scrub nurse and perfusionist who work with the team from the Newborn and paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS).