Clinical Perfusionist – Cardiopulmonary Bypass Specialist

About the role

The Clinical Perfusionist is responsible for setting up, operating, and maintaining extracorporeal circulation equipment that temporarily assumes the functions of a patient’s heart and lungs during surgery or respiratory failure. The role supports the Heart Centre by providing perfusion services for adult and paediatric patients, including long‑term life support and organ‑transplant assistance.

Key responsibilities

• Review patient medical history and configure the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) machine and associated equipment.
• Select, assemble, test, and calibrate the CPB machine to ensure proper function.
• Operate the CPB machine to maintain circulation, administer drugs, and control body temperature.
• Monitor physiological variables (temperature, blood composition, flow rate) and adjust equipment as needed.
• Perform routine maintenance, cleaning, and calibration of heart‑lung machines and ancillary devices.
• Provide extracorporeal long‑term life support for adult and paediatric surgical/medical patients.
• Operate and troubleshoot assist devices and intra‑aortic balloon counter‑pulsation technology.
• Set up, operate, and monitor intra‑operative autotransfusion (cell‑saver) equipment.
• Support organ‑transplant perfusion programs and manage related patient outcome data.
• Respond to emergent/urgent situations and adhere to hospital policies and procedures.

Required profile

• Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in a health‑allied or science field plus completion of a perfusion‑training program.
• Current registration with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS) and the country of origin.
• Two years of related experience with a Master’s degree (or four years with a Bachelor’s degree).

Required skills

• Extracorporeal circulation equipment operation.
• Cardiopulmonary bypass machine setup, testing, and calibration.
• Intra‑operative autotransfusion (cell‑saver) operation.
• Intra‑aortic balloon counter‑pulsation support.
• Blood‑salvaging techniques.
• Mechanical assist devices management.
• Perfusion services for organ‑transplant programs.
• Maintenance, cleaning, and calibration of heart‑lung machines.
• Monitoring of blood temperature, composition, and flow rate.