6 Oct 2025
These guidelines brought together all UK ECMO centres and eight national societies to focus on the recognition of cardiac arrest, team prioritisation, and early ECMO troubleshooting for key life-saving interventions.
We utilised advanced life support approach to support hospital first responders in recognition of arrest and ECMO troubleshooting in the first few minutes of deterioration. We sought to provide the simplest possible advice to maximise the chances of surviving a life-threatening emergency regardless of ECMO configuration or underlying pathology. This approach minimises cognitive load by prioritising immediate resuscitation and deferring consideration of more definitive assessment and management.
The guidelines are applicable to all staff and types of ECMO performed in the UK and should be utilised in conjunction with appropriate training.
14 UK ECMO centres:
Barts Health NHS Trust, London; Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol; Freeman Hospital, Newcastle; Golden Jubilee National Hospital, Glasgow; Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London; Hammersmith Hospital, London; Harefield Hospital, London; King’s College Hospital, London; Glenfield Hospital, Leicester; Royal Brompton Hospital, London; Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge; St George’s University Hospital, London; University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham; and Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester.
Eight national organisations:
Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Critical Care, British Association of Critical Care Nurses, British Cardiovascular Society, British Society of Heart Failure, Intensive Care Society, Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, Resuscitation Council UK, and the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain & Ireland.
