Grateful cardiac arrest survivor offers thanks (video)

It was an ordinary day in February of 2025 when Bonita resident Douglas Erns, age 71, arrived home. An avid gardener and supporter of the arts, Douglas was healthy and active.

Then came a twinge of chest pain — followed by another, and one he couldn’t ignore. Trusting his instincts, he drove himself to Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center.

“Douglas came in with chest pain, and while we were running tests, he went into cardiac arrest and lost consciousness,” says Dr. Gregory Fenati, emergency medicine physician. “Every second counts in cardiac arrest, and the team immediately sprang into action.”

Despite repeated resuscitation attempts, Douglas did not respond. The team made a critical decision: He was a good candidate for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) — an advanced emergency intervention that uses extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for cardiac arrest when standard CPR fails. ECMO temporarily supports circulation and oxygenation, effectively taking over the work of the heart and lungs.

After he was stabilized at Sharp Chula Vista, Douglas was transferred to Sharp Memorial Hospital for continued expert care.

In November 2025, Sharp Chula Vista became the first ECPR Receiving Center in the South Bay and one of only five in San Diego County. Three of the receiving centers are Sharp hospitals, including Sharp Memorial Hospital, where the technique was pioneered.

In 2010, Sharp Memorial became the first hospital in the nation to use ECMO in the emergency department for cardiac arrest. Today, Sharp trains clinicians from around the world in this life-saving technology.

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