Safety measures of extracorporeal circulation by heart surgeons and perfusionists

In the past, heart surgeons often set up the extracorporeal circulation (ECC) system, primed the circuit, and operated the ECC in Japan. As works of perfusionists recently became specialized, young Japanese heart surgeons seldom receive education on ECC, and rarely operate ECC. ECC accidents are rare, but once it occurs, even a well experienced perfusionist often becomes too upset to think of the next action, while surgeons at the operative table have little knowledge of the ECC system. Reconsideration of ECC education for heart surgeons is still rare. As a medical team, tragedies such as death and life-threatening complication due to an ECC accident are to be prevented at all costs. At an on-site training session for ECC troubles at the 59th annual meeting of Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery, the basic ECC operations, recovering procedures after an accident, and the use of safety devices were taught to 30 teams of young heart surgeons and perfusionists as a measure to ensure safety of ECC. A questionnaire survey was conducted at the end and satisfactory results were obtained.