New medical truck launches to treat cardiac arrest patients in Twin Cities

A new medical truck outfitted with the equipment needed to support cardiac arrest patients on their way to the hospital will soon hit the streets as part of the Minnesota Mobile Resuscitation Consortium, an interdisciplinary center at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

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The University of Minnesota’s new ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) truck is outfitted with medical equipment and virtual reality technology to help medical professionals better treat cardiac arrest patients on the way to the emergency room. (Courtesy of Minnesota Mobile Resuscitation Consortium)

The truck will have medical equipment and virtual reality technology to help medical professionals treat cardiac arrest patients for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation on the way to the emergency room. It was launched by the University of Minnesota, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and other health care system partners on Wednesday.

“This approach will allow experts to administer treatment on-site in the vehicle — shortening the time to treatment and broadening the area served by MMRC,” said Jason Bartos, president of  MMRC and assistant professor in the Medical School, in a statement. “Every 10-minute delay in treatment for these patients increases the chances of mortality by 15 to 25 percent. This technology and community partnership aims to save the lives of cardiac arrest patients in scenarios which traditional resuscitation efforts have failed.”

Cardiology physicians will be able to assist the treatment of patients in cardiac arrest through virtual reality while the patient is on their way to a hospital.

The MMRC program began in December 2019, and since then its mobile team has treated 58 patients.