Welcome to the Valor Flight Crew Podcast, hosted by ECHO, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS and Vertical Valor Magazine.

Buckle up as we take you behind the scenes of some cutting-edge advancements in emergency medicine and critical care transport. In this episode, hosts Mike Fadale and Blake Shrider sit down with Kevin Rixmann, clinical supervisor at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, to discuss a game-changing innovation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest treatment with their mobile ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) program.

Together, they explore the evolution of eCPR and ECMO, the critical role of rapid response, and the collaborative efforts needed to identify candidates and educate community emergency services. Kevin shares key insights into the challenges of implementing this life-saving technology, from streamlining response times and improving training for emergency medical services (EMS) providers to the utilization of ECMO99 and air medical services. We all know that caring for out of hospital cardiac arrest patients presents many challenges for us in the helicopter EMS community, but be prepared to be impressed as Kevin discusses the crucial role air ambulances play in the survival of these patients.

If you're passionate about emergency medicine, cutting-edge technology, and the relentless pursuit of better patient outcomes, you won’t want to miss this conversation. Stay tuned as we dive into the future of pre-hospital cardiac care and the impact of ECMO on survival rates.

Also, as an added bonus … make sure you check out this podcast on our YouTube channel for extra pictures and videos of U of M’s Mobile ECMO Program and the process behind pre-hospital cannulation. Let’s get it started!

Thank you to our sponsors Metro Aviation and Precision Aviation Group.