Key result
ECMO simulation training fails to significantly improve self-reported comfort managing emergencies or circuits.
Why the study?
ECMO is a life-sustaining intervention for critically ill patients with cardiac and/or respiratory failure, and circuit management is complex and requires specialized training. This study aimed to describe institutional pediatric and neonatal ECMO training practices and participants' self-reported comfort before and after training sessions.
Does a multidisciplinary simulation-based ECMO education program improve clinicians' self-reported comfort with managing ECMO circuits and emergencies?
Observational
No
Does a multidisciplinary simulation-based ECMO education program improve clinicians' self-reported comfort with managing ECMO circuits and emergencies?
This single-center program evaluation describes a multidisciplinary pediatric ECMO simulation curriculum that numerically increased clinician self-reported comfort across core ECMO tasks, though estimates were imprecise and clinical outcomes were not assessed.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Inconclusive comfort changes after ECMO simulation warrant caution before curriculum adoption; leaves open larger trials linking training to competence and outcomes.
PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to describe extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) training and education practices at our institution and participants' self-reported comfort with ECMO tasks before and after training sessions. BACKGROUND: ECMO is a life-sustaining intervention for critically ill patients with cardiac and/or respiratory failure. ECMO circuit management is complex and requires specialized training. This study describes pediatric and neonatal ECMO education practices at Phoenix Children's Hospital (PCH). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected program-evaluation data. The education program ran from 2021 to 2025; anonymous pre- and post-training survey data were available only for 2024-2025. Registered nurses and ECMO primers completed surveys around 2024 water labs, and fellows completed surveys around boot camps in 2024 and 2025. RESULTS: Survey response rates were 90% (27/30) for spring 2024 water labs and 83% (25/30) for fall 2024 water labs. Among registered nurses and ECMO primers, self-reported comfort was numerically higher after training for managing ECMO emergencies (52% to 74%), ambulating patients (56% to 74%), independently maintaining circuit components (60% to 84%), and escalating pump issues (84% to 96%); all 95% confidence intervals for differences included zero. Fellow item-level response counts varied. Between 2021 and 2025, 273 patients were cannulated onto ECMO at PCH. CONCLUSION: In this single-center descriptive evaluation, self-reported comfort was numerically higher after sessions, with imprecise estimates; findings are descriptive and hypothesis-generating. Neither competence nor patient outcomes were measured.
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Avades et al. (2026) conducted an observational in Pediatric and neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) education and training. ECMO simulation-based water labs and fellows' boot camps vs. Pre-training baseline survey responses was evaluated on Self-reported comfort with managing ECMO emergencies among registered nurses and ECMO primers (spring 2024 water lab) (Difference +22 percentage points, 95% CI -3 to +44). ECMO simulation training numerically increased self-reported comfort in managing emergencies (52% to 74%) and circuit components (60% to 84%), though 95% CIs for all differences included zero.
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