A natural disaster is when events such as earthquakes, mudslides, floods or wildfires affect people. Despite our inability to control these events, we can plan and prepare for them to minimize damage when they do happen. Below are brief explanations of disasters that are common in California. Follow the links to more information about a specific disaster.
When this happens the patient is said to be on bypass.. The person who operates the machine is called a perfusionist. Before and while your child is on bypass, a blood-thinning drug will be administered to prevent blood clots from forming.
When you are connected to the heart-lung machine, it does the same job that your heart and lungs would do. The heart-lung machine carries blood from the upper-right chamber of the heart (the right atrium) to a special reservoir called an oxygenator. Inside the oxygenator, oxygen bubbles up through the blood and enters the red blood cells.