First ECMO treatment begins at SCB medical college in Cuttack

Cuttack: The first ECMO treatment begins at SCB Medical College & Hospital in Cuttack on Saturday late night.

A 10-member team began the treatment at 12.30 am late night. They were assisted by a 3-member team from Kolkata.

Reportedly, a 52-year-old Covid-19 patient from Nischintakoili area was admitted to the hospital after complaining of breathlessness. She was later put on ECMO support. Earlier she tested positive for the virus, but now she is Covid negative.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday inaugurated eastern India’s largest ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) facility in Cuttack for providing free treatment to critically ill Covid patients.

ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machines are used for the treatment of critically ill Covid patients, who can’t survive without continued ventilator support due to severe lung damage. It is also required for the treatment of patients with post-Covid complications. ECMO replaces the functions of the heart and lungs when the lungs cannot provide enough oxygen or get rid of enough carbon dioxide from the body, and when the heart cannot pump enough blood into the body.