For Julio, whose lung capacity was heavily damaged, ECMO maintained the supply of oxygen to his body while allowing his lungs to rest and heal. Without the support of the ECMO machine and INTEGRIS Health staff, Julio says he wouldn’t be here today.
Julio Dominguez, a U.S. Army officer and veteran, reported to the INTEGRIS Health Edmond Emergency Room after collapsing at home while struggling to breathe. Once at the hospital, he tested positive for pneumonia and COVID-19. His symptoms were so severe that his heart and lungs couldn’t function on their own, and his medical team feared for his life as his body wouldn’t respond to medicine or a ventilator.
Enter ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, an advanced treatment that works like a set of heart and lungs for patients in critical condition. Julio was quickly transferred to the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center, where the ECMO program is headquartered – though the team is equipped to respond across Oklahoma.
For Julio, whose lung capacity was heavily damaged, ECMO maintained the supply of oxygen to his body while allowing his lungs to rest and heal. The ECMO machine also supported his heart and ultimately brought him back from cardiac arrest. In all, Julio spent 56 days in a medically induced coma before recovering.
Without the support of the ECMO machine and INTEGRIS Health staff, Julio says he wouldn’t be here today.
“I honestly believe I was in the process of dying,” Julio says. “I was dreaming while in the coma that I was being judged and buried until the good Lord intervened. This whole experience felt like a miracle. The INTEGRIS Health ECMO team are miracle workers to be able to bring me back to my wife and kids.”
From left to right: Ashley Speicher, RN, Tori Kyle, APRN, Julio Dominguez, Jennifer Holt, APRN, Taylor Leippe, ECMO RN Coordinator
Julio considers the ECMO team that saved him from the brink of death his extended family, and even goes back to the hospital to visit.
The INTEGRIS Health ECMO team is committed to building a network so that all physicians and hospitals in the Oklahoma region know this advanced therapy is accessible to their critically ill patients, regardless of the hospital’s affiliation.
“The ECMO program at INTEGRIS Health is the most advanced ECMO program in this region of the country,” says Bob Schoaps, M.D., medical director for specialty critical care and ECMO service at INTEGRIS Health. “I really love that INTEGRIS Health empowers our team to take care of the sickest patients that nobody else is able to help. That we’re able to come in and help give people hope and a second chance at life when they have gone through one of the worst illnesses that anyone could imagine.”
To aid in that effort, INTEGRIS Health has a 24-hour ECMO hotline: 844-436-ECMO (3266). ECMO physicians are available 24/7/365 for consultation with other hospitals and doctors throughout the state. The team is also equipped with a transport vehicle and ECMO machines that can be mobilized to any hospital, regardless of affiliation, to work with other critical care doctors throughout the region. With this lifesaving tech, the INTEGRIS Health ECMO team is providing greater access to care for patients even in the most remote locations.
“I am truly passionate about ECMO because it allows us to save the people that cannot be saved,” says Dr. Schoaps. “We’re talking about a population of patients that have already received exceptional medical care, but they’re on the maximum settings on the ventilator, they’re on multiple medications to support their heart function and blood pressure. They’re to the point where the other medical teams, despite delivering excellent care, have nothing else to offer the patient, but through ECMO we can still help them, we can still provide them an opportunity to stabilize and potentially recover from an otherwise completely fatal disorder.”
As for Julio, he has since medically retired from military service but is thankful for the time he can now spend with his six children and his wife, Megan. The couple recently celebrated their 10th anniversary by traveling to Ireland.
To learn more about Julio’s miraculous recovery thanks to the INTEGRIS Health ECMO team, click here.
