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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So, today’s tip is about strength, survival, determination, and most of all, asking the right questions. So here’s the situation.

About 12 months ago, last year, in 2022, we had a client, a local client actually here in Melbourne who was in ICU after cardiac arrest and a traumatic brain injury. He was in ICU only for a few days, and the family was told that he won’t survive and that it’s “in his best interest” to survive and that any future treatment would be medically futile. And medically futile means of no perceived benefit.

The client was only 57 or 58 years of age, a very young man. And lo and behold, the family reached out to us at intensivecarehotline.com and well, we advised them that (A) they have rights and (B) they should object, and (C) they should ask that if he’s not waking up, because that was part of the issue, he wasn’t waking up. He had high intracranial pressures or ICPs that they should ask for a tracheostomy and that would buy this gentleman time to wake up and recover. And the ICU never told the family what a tracheostomy is and that it would buy the gentleman time. And lo and behold, we help the family to advocate for a tracheostomy and for prolonging treatment to give this gentleman a best chance for survival.

So he ended up with the tracheostomy. He had many challenges to overcome. He had a craniectomy, he had many infections, and he had seizures. And after a few months of in and out of hospital and rehabilitation, he survived. He’s home now. And I actually met the gentleman a few days ago with his family. And he’s back to living his life.

He’s not back to normal yet, but he’s on his way to recovery and he’s forever grateful that he’s alive and he’s talking, he’s walking, he’s eating, and he’s drinking. So, put that in contrast to what the ICU team told the family that he won’t survive, and if he does survive that he won’t have any quality of life. It comes back to asking the right question. It comes back to that families in intensive care who don’t know what they don’t know. It’s their biggest challenge. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care. Imagine you’re not questioning, a lot of what’s happening in ICU is driven by managing bed, managing limited resources, no staff, no beds, and one way to manage beds is to not prolong treatment and to let patients die. And then they have an empty bed that is in high demand.

And in this situation, like with many other situations with our clients, we help to get better and best outcomes for our clients and their families. And it really comes down to knowing what to ask, knowing what to look for, knowing about patient and families’ rights, and knowing the medical lingo and knowing what’s happening in ICU step by step. And this is what we can guide families with. It’s the best example that you should never give up, I should say. You should never give up, and you should wake up sooner than later when you have a loved one in ICU. And you need to know that there’s help out there. You can’t just take everything that’s being thrown at you for face value, and you need to ask the right questions.

It goes to show that when ICUs talk about medical futility, it means perceived medical futility because in this situation, it was the ICU’s perception, but the reality has actually shown that there was a very good outcome for this man. And I hope that will give you and your family courage as well to not give up. Reach out to the right people. Reach out to professional consultants and advocates here at intensivecarehotline.com, where we can help you in real time getting good and better outcomes and help you save your loved one’s life.

So that is my quick tip for today.

If you have a loved one in intensive care, go to intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website, or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

Also, have a look at our membership site for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org. There you have access to me and my team and we answer all questions, intensive care and in Intensive Care at Home related 24-hours a day in a membership area and via email.

And if you need a medical record review, please contact us as well. We review medical records in real time when your loved one is in ICU or we review them after intensive care, especially if you have unanswered questions or if you suspect medical negligence, or you simply need closure. But it’s much better if we can help you in real time because that’s when we can almost give you like a second opinion.

Thanks for watching. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. I also do a weekly YouTube live where you can ask your questions live on the show.

Share the video with your friends and families. Click the like button, click the notification bell, and comment below what you want to see next, or what questions and insights you have.

Thanks for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and I’ll talk to you in a few days.