Skip to main content
16/11/2023

Vall d'Hebron holds the seventh edition of the ECMOBARNA training course in ECMO

ECMOBARNA a UCI

ECMOBARNA training course

ECMOBARNA

ECMOBARNA training course

Curs ECMOBARNA

ECMOBARNA training course

ECMOBARNA

ECMOBARNA training course

ECMOBARNA

ECMOBARNA training course

16/11/2023

The course, directed by Dr. Jordi Riera, brought together around 30 teachers specialised in ECMO from different disciplines.

From 6 to 17 November, Vall d'Hebron organised the seventh edition of the ECMOBARNA course at the Hotel Alimara in Barcelona, a national and international reference training course for healthcare professionals working with the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device. The course has been conducted in two main blocks, one in virtual format and one in face-to-face format, and has an eminently practical nature, with lectures, opportunities for discussion and debate, practical workshops and high-fidelity simulation.

The use of ECMO has shown remarkable benefits in recent years in critically ill adult patients. However, it is a complex technique, and previous studies have shown that proper training of the professionals caring for the patients is essential to achieve good results. "Training the medical and nursing professionals involved in the process is key so that they can identify which patients can benefit from this support and what are the most important recommendations for their management, with special emphasis on the prevention of complications. The pillars of any ECMO programme must be patient safety, excellence in care and participation in international clinical and research networks", says Dr. Jordi Riera, director of the adult ECMO programme at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and principal investigator of the Shock, Organ Dysfunction and Resuscitation (SODIR) research group at Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).

In the virtual module, held between 6 and 10 November with more than 200 people, talks were given by national and international experts, always with a participatory and practical approach and with opportunities for discussion and debate with the speakers. Practical videos were also shown and students had the opportunity to participate in interactive clinical cases with voting.

On the other hand, the face-to-face block, held between 13 and 17 November, was divided into several modules adapted to the needs and interests of each of the participants. This format began with the organisation of workshops with different focuses, both for doctors from different specialities and for nurses. Subsequently, they also had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the adult ECMO programme at Vall d'Hebron Hospital, in order to see how a benchmark ECMO unit works, which has already treated more than 430 patients with different pathologies using this support. Finally, training sessions were also held with the Hybrids-Vita high-fidelity ECMO simulator and an animal model.

A course led by leading ECMO experts

The ECMOBARNA course involves the participation of nearly 30 ECMO specialists from different disciplines and specialities, such as intensive care medicine, cardiology, cardiac surgery, nursing and physiotherapy. The training is directed by Dr. Jordi Riera.

Dr. Riera, who is also director of the adult ECMO programme at Vall d'Hebron, currently sits on committees of international reference societies in ECMO: he is a member of the scientific and education committee of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) and of the steering committee and coordinator of the EuroELSO working group on infections.

Recently, Dr. Riera has participated in several international events. For example, he participated in the ELSO Annual Congress, being the first person from Spain to present at this world reference congress. He also presented the advances in ECMO in infectious pathology at the Sepsis Update Congress in Weimar (Germany), and participated in the Nordic ECPR Summit, organised by Getinge, on the use of ECMO in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR).

Related news

Hybrids VITA, developed together with Medical Simulator, reproduces different clinical scenarios for training on how to prevent, diagnose and treat possible complications of ECMO, which is a very complex technique.

Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR) offers therapeutic options for patients in whom conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques fail to restore the heartbeat.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) replaces lung function and therefore allows patients to be active even if their lungs are not functioning.

Related professionals

Jordi Riera del Brío

Jordi Riera del Brío

Main researcher
Shock, Organ Dysfunction and Resuscitation
Read more
Rosa Alcaraz Peñarrocha

Rosa Alcaraz Peñarrocha

Shock, Organ Dysfunction and Resuscitation
Read more
Óscar Mula Castellón

Óscar Mula Castellón

Administration and Management
Shock, Organ Dysfunction and Resuscitation
Read more
Maria Martinez Martinez

Maria Martinez Martinez

Main researcher
Shock, Organ Dysfunction and Resuscitation
Read more

Subscribe to our newsletters and be part of the Campus life

We are a world-leading healthcare complex where healthcare, research, teaching and innovation go hand in hand.

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.