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Unit of study_
CRIT5015: Extracorporeal Life Support
2025 unit information
Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) is a rapidly developing field with applications in prehospital and retrieval medicine, emergency medicine, anaesthesia and intensive care. It has an expanding set of indications including cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock, severe respiratory failure and organ support for high-risk procedures. Students will gain an understanding of extracorporeal support modalities including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), extracorporeal CO2 removal (ECCO2R), ventricular assist devices (VAD) and Impella. The learning modules will introduce essential aspects of the management of ECLS patients including common indications, contraindications, ECLS physiology and technology. A compulsory face-to-face workshop will provide hands on familiarisation with ECLS equipment, procedures and troubleshooting.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Critical Care |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
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None |
|---|---|
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Explain the rationale for various ECLS modalities and their effects on human physiology
- LO2. Appropriately identify patients failing conventional respiratory or cardiovascular support who may benefit from ECLS
- LO3. Describe components of extracorporeal circuits including pumps, oxygenators and cannulas including their safety features and limitations
- LO4. Manipulate user-controlled variables an ECMO console and predict the physiological consequences of the resulting changes
- LO5. Interpret ventilator data, including ventilator waveforms
- LO6. Analyse common ECMO troubleshooting scenarios
- LO7. Apply evidence-based solutions to routine and complex patient care scenarios requiring ECLS
- LO8. Correctly apply strategies to minimise complications and maximise effectiveness from ECLS
- LO9. Understand the principles for weaning various forms of ECLS
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2025
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Distance education/intensive on campus | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
