Experience from transport teams on interhospital transfer of patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support: A qualitative study

BackgroundExtracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be a life-saving treatment for patients requiring advanced cardiopulmonary support. Several ECMO centres offer interhospital transport (ECMO IHT) services that involve establishing ECMO teams to initiate ECMO at referring hospitals and then transfer patients to ECMO centres. ECMO IHT is often high risk and complex. Understanding the experience of transport team members is crucial to ensure patient safety and promote quality improvement.AimTo explore the experiences of transport teams performing ECMO IHT.Study DesignA descriptive qualitative methodology was adopted.ResultsThirteen health care professionals who have performed ECMO IHT at a general hospital in China agreed to be interviewed and enrolled in this study. Two investigators conducted face-to-face individual interviews in September-November 2022. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Three main themes and nine sub-themes were developed: (1) practicing with good organizational management (conducting training programs, cultivating the spirit of good teamwork and developing a standardized transport procedure), (2) dedicated to ensuring patient safety (adequate preparation and regular checking to reduce risk, accurate evaluation to avoid futility and maintaining communication to increase safety) and (3) having confidence despite being uneasy (feeling stressed is common, facing insecurity in transport settings and gaining confidence through practice).ConclusionsHealth care professionals must adequately prepare and assess ECMO IHT to ensure patient safety. Supportive measures should be taken to ensure team members' health and improve patient safety. Good communication and teamwork could improve this challenging task. Further research is required for training programs and establishing standardized transport procedures.Relevance to Clinical PracticeThis study presents multi-professional perspectives on the experience of performing ECMO IHT to help management identify what needs to be further developed. With the increasing number of ECMO IHT, promoting its standardization is warranted.