AirMed International partners with ECMO Advantage for life-saving medical flights

Birmingham, AL - December 14, 2009

AirMed International, the leading U.S. air ambulance company, announced today that it has entered a cooperative partnership with Tennessee-based ECMO Advantage to provide this life-saving medical equipment onboard its aircraft with ECMO Advantage medical professionals assisting in the transport. "Many of our customers have requested the transport of patients requiring the support of this highly specialized treatment and equipment during the flight," said AirMed Executive Vice President Denise Treadwell. "We are very pleased at this new relationship with ECMO Advantage, undoubtedly the leader in this field. This partnership will allow AirMed and ECMO Advantage to provide safe transport of these patients to recognized ECMO Centers around the nation while maintaining quality patient care."

In intensive care medicine, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an extracorporeal technique of providing both cardiac and respiratory support oxygen to patients whose heart and lungs are so severely diseased or damaged that they can no longer serve their function. An ECMO machine is similar to a heart/lung machine and is most commonly used in neonatal intensivecare units, for newborns in pulmonary distress, but it is also used for adults that, even with the use of a ventilator, need to be oxygenated until they are able to do the job with out assistance. One of the new uses is in adults with the H1N1 virus. ECMO treatment provides oxygenation until their lung function has sufficiently recovered to maintain appropriate O2 saturation.

About the air ambulance company AirMed International

AirMed International is the country's leading air ambulance, chosen as exclusive air medical transport for the world-famous Mayo Clinic as well as a preferred carrier for the U.S. Department of Defense. AirMed is CAMTS and EURAMI accredited and operates a fleet of fully customized, fixed-wing aircraft, including the largest medical jet in the U.S., the Hawker 800. AirMed's six strategic bases of operations in Alabama, Hawaii, Minnesota, Ohio, and internationally in Beijing and Hong Kong, provide advantageous geographic coverage and rapid dispatch. AirMed International is the two-time recipient of the International Travel Insurance Journalís "Air Ambulance of the Year," and also created weatherturndown.com, an industry-wide website promoting air medical safety across the country. For more information, visit www.airmed.com or call 205-443-4880.

About ECMO Advantage

ECMO Advantage Corp brings a wealth of knowledge to the partnership by providing specialists with vast experience in supporting patients of all ages and disease processes on ECMO. Founded in May of 2007, ECMO Advantage provides extracorporeal related consulting, training, staffing and equipment rental nationwide. ECMO Advantage specialists are among the top professionals in the extracorporeal community and bring with them over 200 years combined experience in critical care and over 100 years combined experience in extracorporeal support. For more information, visit their website, www.ecmoadvantage.com.

Media Contact: Sarah Hanley 205-443-4858 shanley@airmed.com

FDA Alert: New USP Standards for Heparin Products Will Result in Decreased Potency

GISH Biomedical, Inc., Receives FDA Clearance for GBS© Heparin Free Products GISH Biocompatible Surface for the cardiopulmonary surgery market. This includes oxygenators, venous reservoirs, arterial filters, heat exchangers, and tubing used in perfusion circuits.

"Efficacy and economic assessment of conventional ventilatory support versus extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe adult respiratory failure (CESAR):a multicentre randomised controlled trial" Giles J Peek, Miranda Mugford, Ravindranath Tiruvoipati, Andrew Wilson, Elizabeth Allen, Mariamma M Thalanany, Clare L Hibbert, Ann Truesdale, Felicity Clemens, Nicola Cooper, Richard K Firmin, Diana Elbourne, for the CESAR trial collaboration DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61069-2

Upcoming Meetings:

26th Annual CNMC ECMO Symposium
Feb 21-25, 2010
Keystone, CO

20th Annual SEECMO Meeting
May 21-23, 2010
University of Iowa

17th Annual
Symposium on New Advances in Blood
Management Kansas City, MO
Oct 1-3, 2009

Pediatric Perfusion
Oct 29-31, 2009
Dallas, TX

AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE RENTAL/LEASE!!

  • - BIOMEDICUS 550
  • - JOSTRA ROTOFLOW
  • - CDI 500
  • - CDI 100
  • - Sorin SIII System

Please contact us at ECMO Advantage for more information.

2009 H1N1 Flu


What is 2009 H1N1 (swine flu)?

2009 H1N1 (referred to as "swine flu" early on) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This new virus was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009. This virus is spreading from person-to-person worldwide, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) signaled that a pandemic of 2009 H1N1 flu was underway.

H1N1 Influenza virus image.

Why is 2009 H1N1 virus sometimes called "swine flu"? This virus was originally referred to as "swine flu" because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs (swine) in North America. But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and bird (avian) genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant" virus.

For more information visit the CDC Website.

This CDC publication provides the most useful information about H1N1 for daily living. There is a lot of misinformation being spread. This site should provide you with accurate information about "Swine Flu".