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Globally designated excellence in life support for the most critical patients

ECMO Gold Badge

At Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies, excellence in the care of children and babies with critical health conditions is at the heart of our mission. When children and babies are so critically ill that conventional pediatric or neonatal critical care may not be able to provide enough support, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) may be needed as a bridge in care.

ECMO provides support of failing organ systems in infants, children and adults. ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support available to patients experiencing acute failure of the cardio-respiratory system. ECMO allows time for the patient’s lungs or heart to heal over a period of time by using a heart-lung machine to oxygenate the blood outside the body.

 The Orlando Health Arnold Palmer ECMO team was founded in 1989 and is one of the oldest ECMO programs in the world. Our team employs full-time ECMO specialists and pediatric perfusionists who provide ECMO support in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Pediatric Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (PCICU) at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. At our hospitals, ECMO support is brought to the patients, allowing critical children and babies to remain in the specialty intensive care unit that is most appropriate to their age and health conditions.

Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Medical Center is an Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) designated Gold Level Center of Excellence. The ELSO Excellence in Life Support Award recognizes extracorporeal life support programs worldwide that distinguish themselves by having processes, procedures and systems in place that promote excellence and exceptional care in providing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to their patients. The ELSO Award signifies to patients and families a commitment to exceptional patient care. It also demonstrates to the healthcare community an assurance of high-quality standards, specialized equipment and supplies, defined patient protocols, and advanced education of all staff members.