All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhubaneswar Director Gitanjali Batmanabane on Thursday inaugurated an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine at the leading healthcare facility.This is the first-ever ECMO machine in a public hospital in the State.The inauguration ceremony took place on the occasion of the ninth foundation day of the hospital. ECMO treatment is likely to commence at the hospital by next week, Batmanabane said, adding that the hospital would get another ECMO machine soon.
These ECMO machines are to treat critical Covid patients and other critical cases of different ICUs. The AIIMS Bhubaneswar presently has some faculty members trained in handling ECMO machines and the institute is hiring more technicians to operate the machines. It would help the patients who are being referred to healthcare facilities outside the State for ECMO support.