Coming Together During COVID-19 and Beyond

Abstract

The COVID 19 pandemic has impacted the world in unpredecented ways. In Chinese, the word “crisis” (危機) embodies the sense of “opportunity” (機，機會), and we are presented a unique invitation as a medical community to reshape our collaborative efforts. The establishment of large patient databases allows us to examine clinical questions conveniently, which has shown to be efficient for testing associations and generating hypotheses. Based on a database of patients who have received ECMO support at the Department of Adult Intensive Care at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, we were able to examine the utilization of ECMO resources, as well as monitor the performance of the resuscitation team during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the lack of territory-wide data limited drawing conclusions about equitable distribution of resources and computing standardized mortality ratios. Early in the pandemic when the outbreak was largely confined to the Asia-Pacific continent, the team led by Professor John Fraser in Brisbane conceived the “ECMOCARD study”, which was subsequently adapted to include information from aspects of ICU care apart from ECMO. Since growing to become an international consortium including more than 50 countries, it has facilitated the comparison of care across geographical continents. Looking ahead, we should be more intentional in our efforts to systematically contribute patient data to international registries. Acknowledging cultural practices that distinguish this part of the world , we hope to offer a custom-made approach for the Asia-Pacific chapter of ELSO.