Heart and lung bypass machines have been around for more than 50 years. For much of that time they were used primarily to help patients survive while they waited for an organ transplant. But in the last 10-15 years, and especially since Covid, they are being used as a last-ditch effort to stabilize patients whose lungs or hearts are failing.
Kelli Gehrke, 36, had been in cardiac arrest for seven minutes when a mobile team of doctors and specialists flown in from Harborview Medical Center connected her to a life-saving machine that bypassed her failing heart and lungs.
Three days earlier,... [10806 chars]