Access to advanced cardiac arrest care expanded at HCA HealthONE Aurora

When cardiac arrest occurs, every second matters. HCA HealthONE Aurora is expanding access to advanced emergency treatment with extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or ECPR, in Aurora, Colorado. It is the only hospital in the state to routinely provide this service in the emergency department, giving patients in our community access to specialized cardiac emergency support when and where they need it most.

ECPR is an advanced form of cardiac support used when traditional CPR is not enough to restart the heart in a patient with cardiac arrest. The therapy uses extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, a technology that temporarily takes over the work of the heart and lungs by circulating and oxygenating blood outside the body to support vital functions.

At HCA HealthONE Aurora, this level of support is designed to give care teams more time to stabilize patients, protect vital organs and neurologic function, and treat the underlying cause of cardiac arrest.

"When a person experiences cardiac arrest, every minute matters," said Scott Rausch, CEO of HCA HealthONE Aurora. "Our emergency department's ECPR program reflects our commitment to delivering advanced, patient-centered care closer to home for the communities we serve across the Rocky Mountain Region."

Dr. Christopher Tems, Medical Director of the Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Program and Director of Emergency Department ECMO for HCA HealthONE Aurora, said the program is already making a difference for patients who need rapid, specialized intervention.

"We've had amazing success utilizing ECPR to treat our most critically ill patients in the emergency department, with neurologically intact survival rates that are more than twice the international benchmark," Tems said. "It's amazing to see a patient who had gotten CPR for an hour, and would have likely died anywhere else, walk out of the hospital with their family."

HCA HealthONE Aurora is also partnering with Aurora Fire to change how emergency teams respond to cardiac arrest in the field. The hospital is the first in the state to collaborate with an EMS provider in this way, helping first responders quickly identify eligible patients and transport them faster for ECPR treatment.

"Time is critical in cardiac arrest," Tems said. "The sooner a patient not responding to standard resuscitation measures is placed on ECMO, the better their outcome is likely to be. By working closely with EMS and educating teams in the field, we can streamline care and give more patients access to this treatment as quickly as possible."

This coordination is intended to reduce delays in starting time-sensitive treatment and improve access for patients experiencing the most serious cardiac emergencies. For those who meet specific clinical criteria, ECPR can provide a higher level of emergency intervention when seconds matter most.

In addition to cardiac arrest, ECMO therapy may help support some patients facing other life-threatening conditions, including cardiogenic shock, heart failure, pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and respiratory failure.

"Separate from our ECPR program for cardiac arrest, our team has also had success with traveling to more rural health partners and even to neighboring states to place patients on ECMO who needed this therapy urgently, but who were otherwise too ill to be transported to our facility," Tems said. "That work is helping us extend advanced cardiac support to patients who may otherwise be too far away to access it in time."

"HCA HealthONE Aurora is focused on bringing the latest technology, treatments and tools to the people who depend on us," Rausch said. "This is another way we are working to improve access to high-quality healthcare in our community."