"The New York Road Runners will have an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) resuscitation machine and a specialized ECMO team waiting in the finish-line medical tent on the Coney Island boardwalk this Saturday for the RBC Brooklyn Half. Organizers describe the unit as a "last‑ditch" lifesaving option for runners who suffer cardiac arrest and do not respond to standard CPR and defibrillation, a move aimed at tightening on-course emergency capabilities for an event that pulls in tens of thousands of runners and spectators."
"According to Brooklyn Paper, the ECMO machine and a five-person team are on loan from Maimonides Medical Center and will be based inside NYRR's finish-line medical tent. Dr. Matt Friedman, NYRR's medical director and an emergency physician at Maimonides, told the outlet that "ECMO is sort of a last-ditch effort for a person in cardiac arrest who does not respond to normal resuscitative measures." Brooklyn Paper also reports that Maimonides will keep a second ECMO machine on standby at the hospital in case the finish-line unit is used."
"Maimonides Medical Center confirms its ECMO specialists, led by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Paul Saunders, were on standby at the TCS New York City Marathon last year and that the program holds regional recognition as an ECMO center. Hospital materials note that the team can cannulate patients on site, circulate and oxygenate blood outside the body, and then transfer stabilized patients to the hospital's ICU for ongoing care. That proximity between the finish area and an ICU-ready hospital is a key piece of the protocol if the unit is activated."
"The decision to bring ECMO to the boardwalk follows two recent fatalities linked to the Brooklyn Half. Former college football player Charles "Ace" Rogers, 31, collapsed on the course and later died in 2025, according to the Star Tribune. A 32-year-old runner, David Reichman, collapsed at the finish and was pronounced dead in 2022, as 1010 WIN"
An ECMO resuscitation machine and a specialized five-person ECMO team will be available in the finish-line medical tent on the Coney Island boardwalk for the RBC Brooklyn Half. The unit is intended as a last-ditch option for runners who suffer cardiac arrest and do not respond to standard CPR and defibrillation. The equipment and team are on loan from Maimonides Medical Center, where a second ECMO machine will remain on standby. The ECMO team can cannulate patients on site, circulate and oxygenate blood outside the body, and then transfer stabilized patients to the hospital’s ICU for continued care. The move follows recent deaths associated with the event and aims to strengthen on-course emergency capabilities.
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