Sahela collapsed from a cardiac arrest in the Emergency Department waiting room before being triaged. The quick-thinking ED staff provided timely advanced life support and alerted the ECMO team.

He was swiftly placed on ECMO while receiving CPR (ECPR), a therapy that ultimately saved his life.

ECPR is used for selected cases of refractory cardiac arrests and requires a quick response from a multidisciplinary team of anaesthetists, ICU doctors, surgeons, nurses and perfusionists. He then went to the cardiac catheterisation laboratory to have his blocked coronary artery that had led to his cardiac arrest opened by the cardiology team.

Sahela spent a week in the RMH ICU on ECMO before being transferred to The Alfred through the collaboration of VECMOS. After two more days his heart had recovered enough to come off ECMO.

“Although my memory of the day I suffered a cardiac arrest remains hazy, I vividly recall the moments that followed,” Sahela wrote.  He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the nurses who sat by his bedside, holding his hand and speaking kind words. Sahela also commended the communication with his family in Sri Lanka stating “The support during that challenging time made a significant difference.”

Twelve months later, Sahela has returned to university, thanks to the timely, accessible and expert ECMO patient care provided by the RMH, The Alfred and the collaboration through VECMOS.