Overview

This Certification Guide is intended for first time applicants and candidates for the ELSO Adult ECMO Certification (E-AEC). This guide outlines the requirements and processes necessary for E-AEC Certification. This guide details the importance of the educational and clinical experience requirements, in addition to the steps to successfully apply for E-AEC.

Purpose of Certification

Satisfactory completion of the criteria listed below will provide practitioners access to sit for the ELSO Adult ECMO Certification Exam. This exam is comprised of National Board of Medical Examiner (NBME)-style questions aimed at helping health professionals, across the continuum of care, enhance and demonstrate their clinical knowledge. ELSO undertook a multi-stage implementation process to ensure we can bring forward a solid knowledge assessment tool for the ECMO community. Our process included several rounds of psychometric analysis, on both expert and novice level ECMO clinicians.

The ELSO Adult ECMO Certification (E-AEC) is valid for a three (3) year period. The certification period is chosen to reflect the need for periodic reassessment while balancing the competing time demands for active practitioners. Recertification requirements are outlined in more detail in the “Current Certified Professionals” section on the Individual Certification page of our website.

E-AEC Certification Requirements & Documentation

To become an eligible candidate to sit for the E-AEC exam, ECMO practitioners must fulfill and demonstrate evidence of having met the following criteria:

Only courses that have been endorsed by ELSO officially or are run by ELSO can claim that they meet ELSO criteria. All other claims are self-proclaimed and may not be entirely accurate. ELSO publishes our learning objectives to make our standards available for anyone. However, this does not mean that the organizing entity for another course has met these criteria. For an official list of ELSO endorsed courses, please visit our Endorsed Courses page.

Didactic Course (Step 1)

Practitioners are required to complete one didactic course that meets the ELSO Adult Learning objectives within the previous 15 years.
Eligible Courses include:

Documentation Requirements: Applicants must submit proof of the following

• Course attendance (ex: completion certificate with course name, date, and candidate name)
• Course agenda and learning objectives (for non-ELSO hosted or endorsed courses only, must clearly outline all learning objectives covered)

Simulation Lab (Step 2)

Practitioners are required to complete one high-fidelity ECMO simulation lab course that includes ELSO’s Adult Essential Simulation Scenarios:

• Drainage Insufficiency
• Air Embolism
• Pump Failure
• Membrane Lung Failure
• Gas Failure

Eligible Courses include:

Documentation Requirements: Applicants must submit proof of the following

• Proof of course attendance (ex: completion certificate with course date/location and candidate name)
• Course agenda and learning objectives (for non-ELSO hosted courses only, must clearly outline that all essential simulations were completed in a high-fidelity environment)
   

Clinical Bedside Experience (Step 3)

Candidates must demonstrate completion of a minimum of 16-32 proctored hours (or 2 - 4 ECMO days) followed by a minimum of one 8-hour shift (or one day) every 8 weeks, for an average of 56 hours (or eight days) of ECMO patient care per year for a minimum of 6 months.

Please note: ECMO hours completed during fellowship training do not count toward this requirement. Step 3 is intended to assess post-training, independent practice.

Documentation Requirements: To verify that the clinical experience requirement has been met, the individual applying for E-AEC will need to submit a signed letter from the ECMO Director or Medical Director on the institution’s letterhead verifying the completion of the clinical experience requirement.

Update on Step 3 Requirements: Please note that the Step 3 requirements are currently under revision. Updated information will be shared this Fall. Thank you for your patience as we work to refine and strengthen the certification process.

Submission Process

Timeline

E-AEC applications can be submitted at any time after the applicant meets criteria. We recommend not beginning the application until all steps have been completed and the applicant is ready to submit all materials. The application will timeout after 30 days and may need to be reset, application reset requests can be sent to ecmotraining@elso.org.

Submission Steps

Gather Documentation 

• Collect all required documentation for didactic course and simulation lab
• Receive a letter of completion of clinical experience requirement from ECMO Director, Medical Director or other appropriate personnel.
• Ensure each document clearly shows the relevant details as previously described.

Access the E-AEC Certification Application

• Access ELSO Academy via ELSO.org.
• Select the E-AEC Application on the Dashboard, or from the Course Catalog.

Upload Documents 

• Upload documentation as instructed within the E-AEC Application.

Complete Self-Attestation 

• Review and complete the self-attestation statement within the applicant’s ELSO Academy account, and ensure all information is accurate.

Submit

• Review submission for accuracy. 
• Complete the submission by finishing the last page of the application. 

Processing Applications

Certification applications will be processed in the order in which they are received. Applicants will receive an email after their materials have been processed to confirm if any additional documentation is needed. Testing dates will become available on the candidate’s ELSO Academy Dashboard after application verification.

Fees

The E-AEC Application does not have a fee. A certification exam fee will be collected after the application is accepted and the candidate purchases their exam date. Payment is by credit card only via ELSO Academy.