Selection of patients who will ulti

Selection of patients who will ultimately benefit from ECMO is crucial to the success of a service. Failure to select patents who will either recover or be suitable for further therapies will cause a lot of suffering, Patients will remain for weeks in intensive care with no prospect of recovery .Staff will lose morale by having to care for futile patients .Managers will question the high cost when assessed against outcome .Sadly, many patients are referred too late for consideration by the ECMO team. ECMO is not a miracle machine and cannot reverse the irreversible .