: After the Circuit Stops — Chapter 12 of the ECMO Program Blueprint. Free.

Most ECMO programs have protocols for cannulation, anticoagulation, oxygenator failure, air entrainment, pump failure, and hemorrhage.

Most have nothing for what happens after the pump stops for the last time.

This is Chapter 12 of the ECMO Program Blueprint — a four-phase operational protocol for ECMO and perfusion teams following death, withdrawal of support, and failed rescue. Built on The Pause (UVA/Cleveland Clinic), the forYOU model (University of Missouri), and the RISE program (Johns Hopkins). Adapted for the specific occupational exposure of the person who physically stops the circuit — because that exposure is different from every other role in the room, and no existing protocol names it.

What's inside:

• A mandatory Phase 1 operational closure sequence including The Pause
• A voluntary peer check with a consequence-free step-back pathway
• A systems review structurally separated from emotional decompression
• Automatic enhancement triggers for pediatric death, family-witnessed withdrawal, and prolonged runs
• A process record checklist ready to drop into your program policy
• 12 cited references including for YOU, RISE, and the second victim literature

Free. No strings. If it belongs in your program, use it.

The full ECMO Program Blueprint — 12 chapters, complete clinical atlas — is linked below.