What we do. . .

By LA-jan - August 28, 2008

I just finished a couple hard days at work and I am exhausted. We're using a new ECMO pump and trying to work out the kinks. Unfortunately, the last two night the oxygenator failed. As it fails, it foams out plasma. We had to capture the plasma in a baby diaper and weigh it so we could replace the fluid. It was foaming like crazy. We kidded we were in an "I Love Lucy" show with too much laundry soap in the washer! Hourly out, hourly in until it failed so bad we had to replace the entire circuit. Twice! Of course, in the middle of the night! Oooh, I love it!
(Hippa privacy, so this is only an example, not the real deal.)

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7 comments

  1. KatieAugust 29, 2008 at 4:09 AM

    so cool! I hope the baby was okay!

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  2. LA-janAugust 29, 2008 at 11:47 AM

    The little girl was going to surgery the day I went home. I don't know yet how she's doing till I return to work on Tues.

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  3. LA-janAugust 29, 2008 at 11:48 AM

    The little girl was going to surgery the day I went home. I don't know yet how she's doing till I return to work on Tues.

    ReplyDelete
  4. DorothyAugust 29, 2008 at 5:06 PM

    oh my - no that is crazy stuff. keep it coming! this is interesting!

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  5. DorothyAugust 29, 2008 at 5:29 PM

    Oh my gosh! Which wire goes to what? This is really cool stuff Jan - put more of this on your blog - what does "foaming" mean?

    John

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  6. LA-janAugust 29, 2008 at 6:15 PM

    The oxygentor is basically a lung. We feed in oxygen gas, the blood and gas exchange through a hollow fiber membrane. This membrane was getting too wet. Plasma leaked out. The oxygenator has a gas exhaust, the plasma leaked out with the gas and voila! Foam, yellow foam!

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  7. AnonymousAugust 29, 2008 at 7:27 PM

    that's crazy! the foam sounds gross but the contraption looks intense!

    ReplyDelete