ECMO Team Roles & Communication Flashcards
6 cards from real CES practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 ECMO Team Roles & Communication flashcards as text
Which role in the ECMO team is primarily responsible for managing the ventilator during ECMO?
Answer: Respiratory therapist in collaboration with the intensivist
Respiratory therapists, working under intensivist orders, manage ventilator settings during ECMO support including lung-protective strategies.
Ethics consultation is most appropriate in ECMO cases when:
Answer: Goals of care cannot be agreed upon by the family, patient, and clinical team
Ethics consultation is indicated when there is conflict or uncertainty about goals of care, end-of-life decisions, or withdrawal of ECMO support.
Debriefing after an ECMO emergency is important primarily because:
Answer: It identifies system-level and team-level improvements to prevent recurrence and support staff
Post-emergency debriefing identifies both technical and team communication gaps, supports psychological wellbeing of staff, and drives quality improvement.
What is a 'time-limited trial' in the context of ECMO?
Answer: An agreed-upon period during which ECMO continues while defined recovery benchmarks are reassessed before deciding to continue or withdraw
A time-limited trial is a prospective agreement to continue ECMO for a defined period, reassessing predetermined clinical milestones before deciding whether to proceed or withdraw.
Which metric is most important for an ECMO program's quality improvement dashboard?
Answer: Survival to hospital discharge stratified by ECMO indication and patient population
Survival to hospital discharge by indication and patient group is the primary outcome metric for ECMO program quality benchmarking against ELSO registry data.
An ECMO specialist notices a discrepancy between the documented sweep gas settings and the actual flow meter during shift check. The correct action is:
Answer: Correct the documentation to match the actual setting and notify the physician and outgoing specialist
Any discrepancy in ECMO documentation must be corrected, communicated to the team, and resolved through proper channels — patient safety requires accurate real-time documentation.