Legacy of an ICON, Incorporates ECMO Globally

It is with profound sorrow and deep respect that we pay tribute to the passing of Dr. Robert H. Bartlett, the Father of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) – a visionary whose pioneering work transformed the landscape of critical care and gave countless patients a second chance at life.

Dr. Bartlett was not only a brilliant surgeon and scientist but also a compassionate healer, a true teacher, and an inspiration to generations of clinicians around the world. His groundbreaking development of ECMO revolutionized the management of patients with severe cardiac and respiratory failure, bridging the gap between hope and despair. His humility and generosity of spirit matched his scientific brilliance, making him a role model for all who had the privilege to know or learn from him.

We were deeply honored to have shared a memorable moment with him during the ELSO 2023 Conference at Seattle [Figure 1] and the 5^th International SWAACELSO conference held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, in 2018, where Dr. Bartlett graciously released 2^nd issue of Manual of ECMO in the ICU and the Special Issue of the Journal of Cardiac Critical Care dedicated to ECMO and ELSO [Figures 2 and 3].

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Figure 1:

With Dr. Bartlett: Reverend moment spent, learning from the legend at the ELSO Conference in Seattle in 2023.

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Figure 2:

Dr. Bartlett graciously released the 2^nd issue of the Manual of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in the ICU and Journal of Cardiac Critical Care TSS (JCCC), Edited By SWAACELSO members at SWAACELSO 2018, at IHC, New Delhi.

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Figure 3:

Dr. Robert Bartlett and the survivor, Hope- “Baby Esperanza” were central figures in the development of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. Dr. Bartlett successfully used this life-support technology to save this girl in 1975, who lived to be 50 years of age today.

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Prof. Bartlett traveled to India three times in the last 16 years – In 2010 at Bangalore, where, we first met him to formulate the ECMO Society of India. Then, in 2013, when SWAACELSO was formed and then in 2018 at New Delhi, for the 5^th Annual SWAACELSO Conference, where many new arenas of ECMO were learned by all delegates with his masterly discourse on ECMO physiology and ELSO. These were lifelong cherished moments with the legendary ICON.^[1-3]

Fond memories of Professor Bartlett in New Delhi with a lifetime achievement award given to him by SWAACELSO 2018 in India remain clear in our minds. He, with Steve Conrad and Peter Rycus from ELSO, laid the foundation of SWAACELSO for all of us under one umbrella, for which we all in the SWAACELSO fraternity remain indebted to him. RIP respected Dr Bartlett your legacy will continue to flourish in the form of HOPE “Baby Esperanza”, the first ECMO survivor, to many dying patients.

The world of cardiac and critical care medicine has lost a towering figure, but Dr. Bartlett’s legacy lives on in every ECMO circuit that sustains a life, in every clinician he inspired, and in every patient whose heartbeat echoes the success of his life’s mission. His kind words and encouragement that day remain etched in my heart forever. He exuded warmth, simplicity, and the rare ability to inspire innovation with compassion.^[4-9]

As we mourn his loss, we also celebrate a life that epitomized excellence, empathy, and eternal dedication to humanity.

May his soul rest in peace, and may his legacy continue to guide and enlighten all of us who walk the path he illuminated with ECMO as a second chance at survival for our cardiac surgical patients.