Michelle has been a member of the Children's Hospital Critical Care Transport team for 5 years. Last summer, during the overwhelming fires that consumed Redding, she was a key member in facilitating the evacuation of several critical neonates from Mercy Redding to UC Davis Medical Center. Michelle's extensive background in flight medicine enabled her to think outside of the box in this unique situation. She worked with the Dignity Health transfer center along with the UC Davis transfer center to develop a plan to quickly and safely transport the infants down to UC Davis Medical Center. She assisted in dispatching our in-hospital NICU transport team to transport one infant in a rotor wing helicopter while she herself prepared to transport another infant in a fixed wing aircraft.
Michelle traveled to Mercy Redding in the aircraft with another CCT Nurse through the smoke and fires all while displaying great courage. Upon arrival to Mercy Redding, she assumed care of a critically ill infant who was born at just 25 weeks gestation and who was spending time in the NICU gaining weight and growing from its initial weight of just over 1 lb. No family was present with the baby, so Michelle showed her compassion by ensuring the baby was kept safe and secure during the transport. She continued to provide ICU level care for the baby during their trip back to UC Davis Medical Center in the fixed wing aircraft. Because of Michelle's integrity to provide excellent care in a stressful situation, UC Davis was able to provide emergency relief to another community and the baby had a good outcome.