The patient was dying of COVID-19. Could ECMO save her?
A bedside monitor screamed and grew faint as Lopez, infected with the coronavirus, lost consciousness. Her heart and brain, deprived of oxygen, weakened. Cells in her blood vessels that maintain pressure began to die. Her kidneys slowed. She felt the room grow dark and quiet. A nurse rushed in and hit a button on the wall. “Code Blue” sounded throughout the fifth-floor intensive care unit of Adventist Health Glendale medical center. Advertisement Advertisement Specialists ran to Room 4506. They donned masks and face shields and tried to squeeze air into Lopez’s damaged lungs with a resp...
Source: latimes.com