Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

Mobile ECMO Saved the Life of a Florida Woman Who Now Fights to Reclaim What She Once Had


News provided by

Memorial Healthcare System

Dec 19, 2022, 09:20 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

A severe case of pneumonia, complicated by COVID-19, threatened Melissa Stagg's life earlier this year.
A severe case of pneumonia, complicated by COVID-19, threatened Melissa Stagg's life earlier this year.

In just a few days time, Melissa Stagg went from healthy to critically-ill to needing an extraordinary intervention just to survive. A specially-trained transport team from Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute was there, literally, in her time of greatest need.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., Dec. 19, 2022  /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Melissa Stagg no longer takes for granted what comes naturally to most people. Walking, bathing herself, and living a life without potent medications are all recent milestones, ones the Port St. Lucie woman doctors call a "medical unicorn" couldn't have imagined just six months earlier.

Less than a year ago, Stagg's world turned upside down. The mother of three with no pre-existing medical conditions had a cough and fever just before Christmas 2021; within four days she was intubated and on a ventilator with a COVID-19-complicated case of pneumonia. By December 29 it was determined that an extraordinary level of care not readily available was Stagg's only chance of survival. "I was the sickest person in St. Lucie County," she says matter of factly.

“We were the first in South Florida to offer mobile ECMO services. Without that capability, Mrs. Stagg would be in a much different situation than she is today.” - Dr. I-wen Wang, chief of Memorial’s Adult Heart Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support Program.

Post this

Stagg's dire situation required ECMO, an acronym for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, an advanced therapy that not all hospitals are equipped to provide. It requires a special machine that replaces the function of the heart and lungs of critically-ill patients by pumping and oxygenating blood outside the body. The blood is then returned to the individual, allowing the heart and lungs to rest and recover from damage caused by illness.

Stagg had to be put on an ECMO machine immediately, but doctors feared she could die during the transport to a properly-equipped facility. Thankfully, the Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute had a solution, dispatching nine professionals from its specially-trained transport team to Port St. Lucie and connecting Stagg to a mobile ECMO device. Once her condition was stabilized, the Hollywood-based team was then able to facilitate a safe transfer from her hospital to Memorial Regional Hospital.

"We were the first in South Florida to offer mobile ECMO services," said Dr. I-wen Wang, chief of Memorial's Adult Heart Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support Program. "Without that capability, Mrs. Stagg would be in a much different situation than she is today."

"I would have been dead without mobile ECMO. My husband watched Memorial's team take control of the situation and work like a well-oiled machine," she added.

While ECMO is traditionally a temporary solution in the most critical situations, Stagg's condition required she spend 65 days connected to the machine. During her time in the intensive care unit at Memorial Regional Hospital, she also dealt with blood clots in her brain, leg, and kidneys, infections, and a host of COVID-related issues.

Finally, on May 8, Mother's Day, Stagg was discharged from a rehab facility and able to return home to Port St. Lucie. "It was a long journey that has been much harder than expected, but I'm grateful to be alive," she said.

With the one-year anniversary of the start of her medical ordeal in sight, Stagg is preparing for a much different holiday season than the last. While still actively engaged in physical therapy, she is back to being a wife to husband, David, and mother to Stephen, Kaitlyn, and Nicholas. She continues to work to regain all she lost earlier this year. "People can't believe the progress and recovery I've made. I'm continuing to improve, so if that makes me a unicorn, I'll take it."
                                                                            # # #

Memorial Regional Hospital has been recognized by Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) as a "Designated Gold Level Center of Excellence" for its extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program. The Memorial Healthcare System facility is one of only four adult hospitals in Florida to earn the recognition from the international society and the only program south of Orlando.

Memorial's ECMO program is made up of a multi-disciplinary team of critical care, cardiac surgery, heart failure, and transplant surgery specialists who work together to support patients. It is part of the Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute, a cardiovascular care leader that offers a wide array of services dedicated to the prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

For more information on total heart care, visit them at mhs.net/services/cardiac-vascular.

Media Contact

Kerting Baldwin, Ed.D., APR, Memorial Healthcare System, 954.265.1136, [email protected]

SOURCE Memorial Healthcare System

Modal title

In a transport vehicle like this one, a specially-trained team from Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute can provide mobile ECMO services.
In a transport vehicle like this one, a specially-trained team from Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute can provide mobile ECMO services.
In a transport vehicle like this one, a specially-trained team from Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute can provide mobile ECMO services.

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.