What Does a Clinical Perfusionist Do?
Clinical perfusionists are highly trained individual who operate heart lung bypass machine, and other machines that help circulate blood and possibly oxygen from outside of the body. This may mean the perfusionist works in surgeries or outside of them. Many of the surgeries for which a clinical perfusionist is required involve stopping the heart during surgery so that repairs can be effected. There are other reasons why perfusion or the need to circulate and oxygenate blood outside of the body exist, including the need for ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a combination of profusion techniques that support the heart and lungs.
