Nicholas Gegan woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air and then collapsed. Startled awake, his wife began CPR on her husband to keep him alive while calling for an ambulance. The 35-year-old father of two had gone into cardiac arrest without warning. Emergency crews rushed Nicholas to Ascension Seton Hays (ASH) and the care team quickly realized he needed Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), where a machine pumps and oxygenates his blood, to save his life.
The ASH team had specially prepared for this moment. They activated Ascension Texas’ first ECMO Support Page, alerting the ASH surgical team and the ECMO team at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin (ASMCA) to go into action. The two teams had recently run simulations of this exact scenario and prepared specialized equipment so the surgical team could prep Nicholas for ECMO while the specialized team from ASCMA were still on their way. The coordinated response allowed doctors to get Nicholas’ blood oxygenated and flowing again as fast as possible, limiting damage to his heart and other organs.
Nicholas was immediately transported to ASMCA for further treatment. He recovered quickly, and several days later he was released to go home in time for his youngest son’s first birthday and baptism. Last month, he reunited with the emergency crews and teams from both hospitals that saved his life.
“I have nothing but gratitude and appreciation,” he said. “I have so much love for everybody that did what they had to do to keep me alive.”
Megan Landon, RN and ECMO Specialist at ASCMA, said her team is working with other Ascension Texas facilities to train and equip them for ECMO Support Pages too. “Time is heart,” she said. “We’re doing everything we can to get patients the support they need as fast as possible.”
