Four pieces of ECMO equipment were delivered to Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, by chartered airplane on Tuesday.
They were urgently transferred from Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, and Changchun, capital of north China's Jilin Province to Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province for assembly and then rushed to Wuhan for rescue.
(Photos: People's Daily)
According to incomplete data, there are about 400 pieces of ECMO equipment in China. The essence of ECMO is an improved artificial heart-lung machine with a membrane lung and blood pump as its core part, which play the role of artificial lung and artificial heart, respectively.
ECMO can provide long-term cardiopulmonary support for patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure, and win precious time for the rescue of critical diseases. ECMO is the most core support method for severe cardiopulmonary failure, also known as the "last straw" for severe patients.
(Compiled by Wu Qingyang)