Page 4 - Boca Exposure - June '24

Page 4, Boca Exposure

ECMO And Snowbirds Asked To Donate The Contents

21st Century Of Their Pantry To Boca Helping Hands

Boca Helping Hands (BHH) is asking winter residents
Healthcare and people who go away for the summer to consider weekend meals for
Palm Beach County
school children.
donating the nonperishable items left in their pantry to
BHH before they leave. In 2023, Boca Helping Hands To donate items
By Steven E. Reznick, served more than 103,000 hot meals and distributed more from your pantry,
M.D., FACP – Boca than 114,000 pantry bags of groceries to 10,075 families. please drop them
Raton “We know that many people wonder what to do with off at Boca Helping
In a recent New Yorker the food in their pantry when they get ready to leave for Hands: Monday to
magazine article, writer the summer, and we hope they will think of Boca Helping Friday, 9 a.m. to 3
Clayton Dalton explores Hands,” Greg Hazle, executive director of Boca Helping p.m., and Saturday,
a commonly used Hands said. 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
healthcare technology Boca Helping Hands assists more than 35,000 at 1500 N.W. First
unfamiliar to most, people in the South Florida community through BHH’s Court, Boca Raton,
ECMO (extracorporeal various programs, including hunger relief, job training, FL 33432.
membrane oxygenation). healthcare, emergency financial assistance, childcare and
Developed by a surgical
resident in Boston in 1952, the ECMO machine bypasses
the heart and lungs and supplies oxygen to the blood, True Treasures
while removing carbon dioxide, allowing a surgical repair
of a diseased heart. Consigned Furniture
Since then, the ECMO technology has been further
refined and is regarded as the backbone of today’s & Home Décor
heart bypass surgery. Studies have shown a survival
rate of greater than 30 percent of the patients put on
ECMO upon arrival after an out-of-hospital cardiac TrueTreasuresInc.com
arrest. Emergency Medical Services in France have used
ECMO successfully since 2011. Why pay retail when you can find a True Treasure?
ECMO technology has reached the point where
individuals with severe respiratory failure can be
maintained for weeks to months on the equipment while
they await a successful treatment or a compatible lung or Now Accepting
heart for transplantation. The major drawbacks to using Consignments
ECMO are problems with blood clots, severe bleeding
infection and cost.
The data proving the effectiveness of using ECMO is Over $1,000,000
overwhelmingly positive including:
• Several young patients with end-stage lung disease paid to consignors
from cystic fibrosis functioning fully and normally in the in 2023.
intensive care unit while attached to the life extending
ECMO machine.
• In the pediatric age group, ECMO has been used to 10% OFF the ticketed
treat infants in respiratory distress for nearly 50 years. price
Situations which had a mortality rate approaching 100 (Expires 6/30/2024)
percent, suddenly had a survival rate of 80 percent.
• Although results for adults were not as positive,
that changed when physicians began using ECMO for 3 Convenient Locations
acute respiratory failure associated with the H1N1 111 N US 1, 3918 Northlake Blvd, 14555 S Military Trail,
influenza in 2008. North Palm Beach, FL 33408 Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33403 Delray Beach, FL 33484
• Patients in respiratory failure due to infection who 561-625-9569 561-699-9797
required ventilators, but were treated with ECMO 561-694-2812
alone, did better than patients treated with both a Store Hours Mon - Sat 10 - 6, Sun 11 - 5 (Sun 12 - 5 at US 1 location only)
ventilator and ECMO.
A portable ECMO machine, called Crank-Mo, is
available for use by paramedics. Unfortunately, not many
are in use across the United States. Portable ECMO
machines are also being developed for home. However,
the cost for treatment is a huge drawback as it’s estimated
at approximately $875,000 per patient treated.
Our local hospital’s chief medical officer told me
he was trying to initiate an ECMO program, which the
intensivists were excited to develop. The nursing staff
cited the long hospital stay of patients successfully treated
and were concerned about having enough beds during our
busier seasons.
With the affluence in this community, I fully expect
an ECMO program will be initiated soon. Just like when
it was unheard of to place defibrillators throughout the
community to treat out-of-hospital cardiac events, the day
will soon come when your 911 call for a cardiac arrest
will be answered by paramedics trained to start ECMO
treatment upon arrival.
Steven E. Reznick, M.D., FACP is board certified in
internal medicine with added qualifications in geriatrics
and has practiced in the area for over 30 years. To
request a complimentary meeting with Dr. Reznick
to discuss your health needs, and learn about his
concierge medicine practice, call (561) 368-0191, www.
bocaconciergedoc.com.