Sanford Children’s Hospital ECMO Helps Critically Ill Young Patients

The Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls is the only hospital in South Dakota that offers Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) treatment to critically ill and injured young patients.

When DJ Veldkamp became severely injured in a motorcycle accident in Sioux Falls, his family was thankful ECMO was available close to home. Because of his injuries, flying to a larger city for treatment would have been dangerous.

Veldkamp’s care team decided to put the 21-year-old on ECMO when his health declined in the intensive care unit (ICU). They quickly moved him to Sanford Children’s.

“Because of his age and size, we took him to the pediatric ICU to do the ECMO,” says Lesta Whalen, MD, medical director of Sanford Health’s Extracorporeal Life Support Program.

“Without ECMO, he had a 50% chance of survival,” remembers Veldkamp’s mom, Nona. 

ECMO can be used to treat severe pneumonia, heart failure, trauma, respiratory failure, sepsis and other overwhelming infections. The heart-lung bypass machine pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside of their body.

Veldkamp was hooked up to the ECMO machine for five days. He responded well to the treatment and recovered. 

“If we didn’t have ECMO, DJ may have survived, but his lungs would have been irreparably damaged from trying to use a ventilator to support him,” says Dr. Whalen.

The ECMO team at Sanford Children’s includes nurses, specialty doctors and respiratory therapists who provide around-the-clock access to pediatric critical care.

Dr. Whalen works with the team to ensure the ECMO circuit is working while it’s running. She approves candidates for ECMO and helps coordinate their care. 

“Whether we’re treating a baby, a 3-year-old or a 30-year-old young adult, the ECMO circuit runs the same,” Dr. Whalen says. “The machine is versatile.”

ECMO is an important treatment that saves lives.

“I think the fact that this is the region’s only ECMO program is a big deal,” says Dr. Whalen. “You can stay closer to family and still get top care. It’s an amazing resource to have at Sanford.”

The Extracorporeal Life Support Program is just another way the team at Sanford Children’s hospital focuses on providing the best care for critically ill pediatric patients.

You can refer a patient to Sanford Children’s for ECMO and other life-saving treatments.

Who needs ECMO?

• Children or young adults who have heart or lung problems that have not improved with other treatments. 

• Children or young adults who have one or more of these problems: 

• Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

• Life-threatening heart condition

• Meconium Aspiration Syndrome 

• Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension 

• Pneumonia

• Respiratory Distress Syndrome 

• Sepsis

A patient needs to be on ECMO until:

• The heart and lungs get better

• The treatment fails to work

This could take a few days or many weeks.

Things that affect how long a patient is on ECMO: 

• Type of heart or lung disease

• How much damage there is before starting

• Illnesses or complications while on ECMO

When a patient shows signs of getting better:

• The amount of ECMO support is lowered slowly. This is called weaning. 

• There will be times when the team tries to take the patient off ECMO. This is called trial off. Ventilator support is increased to help with breathing.

• ECMO support is stopped when the lungs and heart have healed enough.

• When ECMO support is stopped, a surgeon takes out the tube(s).