The transfer was conducted using the SAMU 061 air ambulance

The Balearic Islands Health Service has successfully transferred a three-month-old baby via air from Son Espases University Hospital to Vall d’Hebron Hospital (Barcelona) using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This marks the first pediatric air transfer in the Balearic Islands in 2025 using this complex technique entirely with local resources.

To make this possible, SAMU 061 enhanced the energy output of its aircraft by leveraging battery power, enabling the SAMU 061 air ambulance to provide sufficient energy for the required life-support and electromedical devices used during a high-complexity ECMO transfer. Until now, SAMU 061 had to rely on Spanish Air Force aircraft to carry out such operations.

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Health Carries Out the First Independent Pediatric Transfer Using Extracorporeal Oxygenation

The procedure began at 2:30 PM yesterday and was carried out in two phases. First, the SAMU 061 air ambulance flew to Vall d’Hebron Hospital to collect a specialised medical team. Working together with professionals from Son Espases, they administered ECMO to the patient, who was suffering from an untreatable malignant cardiac arrhythmia, to prevent further organ damage due to heart failure. In the second phase, the patient was transferred to Vall d’Hebron with the participation of the Balearic Pediatric Transport Unit and SAMU 061, aboard the medicalised aircraft. This is the second pediatric ECMO transfer performed by SAMU 061 in 2025.

ECMO is a complex technique that provides cardiac and respiratory support, temporarily taking over the function of the lungs and heart for patients whose organs are severely compromised and unable to function independently. It ensures proper blood oxygenation for days or weeks. The procedure involves inserting one cannula into a central vein (typically the femoral or jugular) and another into an arterial (often the carotid in children) or central venous route, to create an inflow–outflow blood circuit. The blood is pumped through a circuit to an oxygenator, which oxygenates it before returning it to the body.

This intervention requires the multidisciplinary collaboration of several hospital departments and professionals, including the Pediatric ICU, Pediatric Cardiology, Cardiac and Pediatric Surgery, Radiology, perfusionists, cardiac surgery technicians, and pediatric transport staff.