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Pump Perfusionists to ECMOists: What We Should Place Our Belief In
I am writing this blog because of this pandemic – does this seem like an acceptable statement to you?
You may assume the reason to be that I am infected or in isolation, or that I am experiencing a drop in
elective cases, without much better to do either way. You’d be wrong on both accounts. I am not
quarantining, & we do the same numbers still. The knowledge thrust upon me after attending webinar
after webinar is the true cause. My 100MB memory is on the verge of crashing.
I am not sure what my role is as a perfusionist, or whether I am still one. Why has this title remained
unchanged when my job profile has shifted greatly during these past years? Why am I not called an
“ECMOist” when I do ECMO more than actual perfusion? Back in the day, we were addressed as pump
technicians, & were continued to be called so much to my annoyance despite the transformation of our
work. In the same impeded way, we may transition from perfusionists to ECMOists too.
What is perfusion? Ask me about RCP, ACP, TCA, & so on, and I can answer it without hesitation. But
when faced with the question on what exactly is perfusion, as a whole, I am unable to answer to my
satisfaction, nor will I be able to answer according to your own expectations. Perfusion is a complex
process, as complex as clot formation in blood – converting to anti thrombin to thrombin, factors XI, XII.
Knowledge and skill is just one of the requirements to become a perfusionist, and if you ask how is it
that you become a perfusionist, my answer would be the same: I don’t know.
Who can become a perfusionist? I know doctors, nurses, lab technicians, respiratory therapists, hospital
administrators, biotechnologists, and above all, high school dropouts, who have become successful
perfusionists. I do not know who can become a perfusionist, but I know that they are all capable of
learning, and that they do. Advancements in technology have freed us from error; with all these safety
features in place, perfusion is no longer a highly skilled job. We simply need to know how to assemble
and add prime to do a regular cardiopulmonary bypass. I always wonder when someone can do adult,
why can they not do pediatric? And when they can do pediatric, why can they not do neonates, with the
same pump that has not changed for the last 50 years?
All of us can do anything, we need to accept this truth. In my nation, the country is brimming with
talent. Let us support our younger generations and juniors. We should not obstruct them in the name of
a hierarchy, or to maintain positions or posts.
Conferences are eye openers. I meet many young talented people there. I met a perfusionist designing a
perfusion app for IOS and Android, and I struggle to learn to use it quickly from him, all while he calls me
sir. This is unique to this country: we have been taught to respect our seniors however little they teach
us, however little we learn from them. Let us do justice to our juniors by giving them opportunities in
every field of perfusion. By doing so, we free ourselves from our own imagination and clutches. We
benefit by both upholding the youth & by gaining time to maintain our work-life balance.
Mr. Gopi K. Thalpathy