HMC’s iInternationally-recognized teamwork and cutting-edge technology save young woman’s life

Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) highly skilled clinical  teams deployed revolutionary new technology that uses a machine to take over the work of the lungs and the heart to save the life of a young woman involved in a serious car accident.

HMC, the first hospital system outside the United States to achieve Joint Commission International (JCI) Academic Medical Center accreditation for all its hospitals simultaneously, is one of the few healthcare systems in the Middle East region to use the ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) which was utilized to save the life of Ms. Majida Seddiq, 21.

Ms. Seddiq was struck by a car whilst crossing the Corniche late at night, suffering multiple trauma injuries, including a severe brain injury and multiple fractures. After being treated in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit, she developed respiratory failure with a lung infection and a brain hemorrhage that left her in a critical condition.

The machine element of ECMO, acting as the lungs or heart, ensures the body gets enough oxygen by circulating the blood outside of the body while the patient is undergoing treatment or recovering from serious injuries. The ECMO system is currently only available in a few centers around the world and requires a fully integrated and dedicated team of highly trained clinicians to carry out high risk procedures, with care delivered by clinicians 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed Fawzy Hassan, Director of HMC Critical Care Center and Clinical Lead for ECMO said its use was only possible due to the collaborative approach to care between various departments within HMC and the support from HMC’s partners, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS in the UK.

“This gave us the time to call in the ECMO team to prepare for the patient,” he said. “It is very unusual to use ECMO on a trauma patient but the team’s high level training allowed us to recognize that it would be invaluable in helping us save Ms. Seddiq’s life. This teamwork and our ability to put the latest technology into practice was instrumental in saving her life and has been recognized by the JCI as part of its assessment of HMC’s clinical standards and delivery of patient care.”

Dr. Ibrahim said Ms. Seddiq was in a critical condition having suffered life threatening injuries and when the ECMO team arrived at Hamad General Hospital, she was close to cardiac arrest. “She was placed on ECMO to support her recovery and after a further three weeks of intensive therapy, I’m delighted to say that Ms. Seddiq was fully awake and beginning rehabilitation.”

After spending three months in rehabilitation, Ms. Seddiq is now fully recovered and enjoying life at home with her family.

Dr. Ibrahim said new technology and innovations like ECMO and other treatments and services have been implemented across all of our hospitals – enabling HMC to make a real difference to patient’s lives.

“It’s these kinds of advances in technology in tandem with teamwork across our clinical teams that were this week recognized by the stringent and prestigious JCI accreditation process,” he said.  Having this recognition of the system underlines the progress HMC has made and further enables us to provide more advanced care to each and every one of our patients.”

Ms. Seddiq’s mother said: “I received a call from Majida’s friends and was told to go straight to the Emergency Department because there had been an accident.  My family and I were in total shock and were very worried about Majida’s injuries.”

She was also full of praise for the way HMC and Dr. Ibrahim cared for her daughter.

“I am so grateful to all of the staff at HMC, including the Ambulance Service, Trauma and Rehabilitation teams, for saving my daughter’s life, especially Dr. Ibrahim and his team who showed empathy and genuine care towards us and kept us informed of everything that was happening. The care and treatment she received was excellent and I thank everyone for this. My family will never forget it.”