Extracorporeal Life Support | ECMO
ELSO Endorsed Course Process
BEFORE YOU APPLY
Please read carefully BEFORE YOU APPLY to ensure your center meets all initial criteria
for ELSO Endorsement. A non-refundable application fee will be required at the time of application
submission; therefore, it is highly recommended that you understand the steps required for your
center’s educational activity to be reviewed for ELSO Endorsement. Submission of an application does
not guarantee your center’s activity will be endorsed.
WHAT IS ELSO ENDORSEMENT
An endorsement process ensures that a given course achieves an educational quality as
defined by ELSO while ensuring that standardization and consistency are maintained throughout the
educational activity.
ENDORSEMENT LEVEL DEFINITIONS
COMPREHENSIVE SIMULATION-BASED ECMO COURSE:
• A Comprehensive Simulation-Based ECMO course meets all ELSO ECMO curricular requirements (Appendix I) and maintains an immersive
simulation experience with a structured debriefing.
• Debriefing is a key feature of this high-level course. Through debriefing, students have the
opportunity
to improve performance with self-review, but also apply existing knowledge and acquire new knowledge.
Debriefing also creates the best learning environment to put theory into practice and promotes
self-confidence in clinical decision making
• The course typically runs over 3-5 days. The simulation lab must include the five essential
simulation
scenarios included (Appendix II).
ECMO COURSE:
• An ECMO Course meets all ELSO ECMO curricular requirements for a portion of the curriculum,
focusing on
VV or VA content. Additionally, the simulation experience may not be immersive or debriefing standards
may not be met, with a variable proportion of the course dedicated to simulation training.
• An ECMO Simulation Course that meets all standards of the immersive simulation experience with a
structured debriefing. Debriefing is a key feature of this course. All five essential simulation
scenarios must be included: drainage insufficiency, air embolism, pump failure, membrane lung failure
and gas failure. Student would be expected to complete a didactic ECMO Training experience prior to
attending.
• ECMO Simulation Course typically runs over 1.5-2 days.
ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS FOR ENDORSEMENT
Any active ELSO member-center may apply for endorsement consideration.
Priority will be given to course that are open to external participants, as well to courses who have
multiple course offerings throughout the year.
BENEFIT OF ENDORSEMENT
An endorsement process can also ensure pre-specified minimal educational standards are met and that
quality is maintained over time. This is an important measure for participants and allows for broader
choice of ECMO courses in terms of location and timing.
The endorsement process offers additional benefit to course providers. ELSO endorsement ensures that the
course curriculum is complete and up to date. Gaps in educational quality can be identified and
addressed. Course feedback obtained via a standard evaluation form can be compared to other courses and
feed back to course directors. Moreover, ELSO branding will provide participants with an assurance
regarding content and quality and likely improve course visibility and registration.
Additionally, there are numerous benefits to the learner who would take an ELSO endorsed course. By
leveraging the ELSO learning management system, ELSO Academy, learners who complete an ELSO endorsed
course will have the activity logged in their ELSO Academy account. This will help keep all their ECMO
educational documents safely in one location for future reference. Their certificates and course
completion information could be accessed at any time for use with center credentialing/privileging, as
well as for ELSO Adult ECMO Certification (E-AEC).
COURSE CURRICULUM
• A Comprehensive Simulation-Based ECMO Course must meet all ELSO ECMO curricular requirements and
thus
will be a combined VV and VA course and include the five essential simulation scenarios. (Appendix I & Appendix II)
• An ECMO course must meet all ELSO ECMO Curricular requirements for either VV or VA ECMO and thus
can be
a VV or VA focused courses.
• An ECMO Simulation Course must include the five essential simulation scenarios (Appendix II) and
include
an immersive simulation experience with debriefing.
COURSE DIRECTOR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The course director should be an active ELSO individual or center member with at least 5 years’
experience caring for ECMO. Exceptions to this may apply with the approval of ELSO Endorsement
Committee.
Prior participation at an ELSO-hosted or endorsed course and simulation training is desired.
SIMULATION FACULTY
For a Comprehensive Simulation-Based ECMO Course or an ECMO Simulation Course, desirable requirements for
simulation faculty are:
-
• Attended a simulation instructor course with formal debriefing training.
-
• Attendance at an ELSO-hosted or endorsed course is highly desirable.
-
• Maintains trainer status by teaching at least one course annually.
ENDORSEMENT PROCESS OVERVIEW
1. Application Submission
All documents uploaded to ELSO Academy for review at least 4-6 months in advance of
planned educational activity.
Application payment due at beginning of application submission process.
2. Visit Preparation
Pre-survey meeting with ELSO representative, Applicant center Course Director and ELSO
surveyor to review educational activity.
3. Survey Agreement
Signed contract with ELSO and host site, which outlines expectations to financial
support ELSO surveyor visit. Hotel, Transportation and Honorarium agreement.
4. Site Survey
Using a standardized checklist, the surveyor will review all aspects of the course,
scoring the various elements.
Survey findings and recommendations will be provided to the host site within 15 business
days of the educational activity.
If ELSO Endorsement is not initially granted, a pathway to endorsement will be put forth
by the ELSO Endorsement Committee for the host site to pursue and to reapply for endorsement.
5. Endorsement Agreement
At time of endorsement, the surveyor will specify if the course meets Step 1-Didactic
requirements for certification (E-AEC), Step 2-Simulation requirements for certification (E-AEC), or both
Step 1 and Step 2. The level of endorsement, including step number and description (Didactic and/or
Simulation) will need to be clearly disclosed in all advertisements of the subsequent courses.
An endorsement contract will be provided to the center after successful completion of a
site survey. The endorsement contract will outline terms of use of the ELSO logo and brand. Use of the ELSO
endorsement logo or wording that implies ELSO-endorsement cannot be utilized until after execution of a
contract.
ENDORSEMENT CYCLE:
The ELSO endorsed educational activity will be licensed/endorsed for a period of three
years from the date of the signed endorsement contract.
APPLICATION FEE
The fee rate is based on the country the course is held in. For the United States, the
fee is $2100 USD. please refer to Application Fee Calculator below.