The Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) is an international consortium of health care professionals and scientists who are dedicated to the development and evaluation of novel therapies for support of failing organ systems. Crucial is the promotion of a broad multidisciplinary collaboration. The primary mission of the Organization is to maintain a registry of, at least, use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in active ELSO centers. As appropriate, registries of other novel forms of organ system support are within the purview of ELSO. Registry data is to be used to support clinical research, support regulatory agencies, and support individual ELSO centers. ELSO provides educational programs for active centers as well as for the broader medical and lay communities