JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It saved countless lives during the darkest hours of the pandemic.
ECMO, which stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, is a medical device that treats severe heart and lung failure by taking over those functions for the patient, so they can recover.
On Thursday, the first ECMO patient at HCA Florida Memorial Hospital returned to greet the medical staff who treated him on the one-year anniversary of being released from the ECMO program.
"The day after Thanksgiving I told my wife, we need to go to the hospital, or I'm going to die, and I don't want to die here in the house in my bed, so just take me up to the hospital, and I'll die there," recalled Carl Gruber.
Gruber, a Marine veteran, was fighting for his life in November 2021.
"I remember when I woke up they said don't move, if you pull out this tube, you will die," said Gruber.
Gruber had covid and pneumonia, so doctors at HCA Florida Memorial connected him to an ECMO machine.
"Normally these are patients who have so severe respiratory failure or cardiac failure that they are unable to survive on typical ventilators," said Dr. David Rice, Medical Director of the ICU.
Gruber was released from the hospital on Jan. 12, 2022 and on the one-year anniversary of being rolled out of the ICU after the ECMO program, he walked back into the hospital to meet the medical staff who saved his life.
"It's fantastic to have the staff come together and want to see me and see the recovery and hear about my process over the last year," said Gruber, "I wasn't able to have any family in here, this was like my family away from home. I remember a lot of those people, and I'm very blessed and thankful for everything they did for me because without them, I wouldn't be here."
Holding court and standing in front of the staff that cared for him while he laid in a hospital bed one year ago, Gruber is a beacon for what is possible.
"He was so sick, and now he's able to do the things he wants to do, what better medicine, can't get better than that," said Dr. Dale Mueller, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Memorial Hospital.
"I don't take the small things for granted anymore," said Gruber, "my wife and I plan to travel and enjoy life to the fullest. I got a 2nd chance and plan to make the best of it."
A second chance because of a lifesaving ECMO device and a dedicated medical team in Jacksonville, all gathered to celebrate his recovery one year later.
Since ECMO became available at HCA Florida Memorial Hospital 28 patients received its lifesaving care.
"We saw an increased need for ECMO during the pandemic and we have seen how powerful ECMO's capability to save lives has been over the past year, benefiting our patients who need it," said Dr. Mueller.
ECMO can only be offered to patients by a physician referral.
For more information about Heart Center programs at HCA visit this website.