Salute Held For LAPD Detective Leaving Santa Monica Hospital After Fighting COVID-19
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A special salute was held Friday for a Los Angeles Police Department detective who recovered from COVID-19.
Detective Michael Chang was wheeled out of Providence St. John Health Center in Santa Monica Friday after being admitted last week in extremely critical condition.
Doctors put him on an artificial lung machine called ECMO that pumped oxygen into his blood while his organs healed.
"The use of ECMO in the COVID setting is new and because of the disease, we have never seen, a lot of surgeons around the world are doing this along with their ECMO teams is really pioneering," said Dr. Raymond Lee.
"I just want to thank all of the nursing staff inside," said Chang. "They were tremendous throughout my whole stay here and made me feel comfortable."
Chang is also participating in the clinical trial of a drug called Sarilumab which attacks the virus's ability to inflame the lungs and other organs.
