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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 the frustration that one of our readers shared with us, which is disconnecting from life support. So, all my quick tip videos here are really about what our readers or clients share with us. Once again, if you go to our website at intensivecarehotline.com and you opt in for your free instant impact report or for your free quick video miniseries to get peace of mind control, power, and influence in intensive care, we ask you what is your biggest frustration. That’s where I get some of my ideas for videos from.

So, one of our readers types in their biggest frustration that, “My loved one is meant to be disconnected from life support and is going to die.” This is obviously a massive dilemma for families in intensive care. That’s even an understatement. It’s absolutely dramatic that families are being faced with the issue that their loved ones are being disconnected from life support against their wishes and without their or their loved one’s consent and it happens all the time.

It’s also something that I observed when I obviously worked in intensive care for over 20 years in three different countries, where I also worked as a nurse unit manager for over five years. And now, in my consulting and advocacy practice here at Intensive Care Hotline where we help families all around the world, when they have loved ones in intensive care, it’s something we almost face on a day-by-day basis and that is very sad that families are being faced with the death of their loved ones against their consent and without their consent.

Again, looking at some statistics, approximately 90% of patients in intensive care survive. So, the odds are actually in someone’s favor. So, you got to ask yourself if the intensive care team is telling you, “Well, you should disconnect your loved one from life support and let them die because it’s “in their best interest”.” You got to start asking questions.

Yesterday, I made a video about a letter we had from a former client who has actually now written to the ICU. She asks questions such as, “Why did the ICU team want to discontinue life support? Is that even legal?” I do remember when we worked with that client, that’s exactly what we were arguing for.

The client’s sister actually contacted us at the time saying, “My sister is in ICU with COVID. She’s on a ventilator and they want to switch off life support”, and we successfully intervened at the time because we looked at the clinical realities and we found very quickly that there is absolutely no reason for this lady to die if she gets best care evidence-based and standard treatment. And lo and behold, we were right because this lady now two years later is alive and she’s very happy to be alive.

She now, after the dust has settled, so to speak, and she understands what’s happened while she was in ICU, she’s now asking all the questions. I will put a link below this video to the video that I made yesterday, and it’s a really compelling letter from our clients asking all the questions.

The ICU at the time also issued a DNR (do not resuscitate) without consent, that’s highly illegal. I’m glad we can bring these issues to light here at intensivecarehotline.com because families in intensive care need to know about that.

What we’re also finding over and over again is that intensive care teams don’t even tell families in intensive care half of the story. When families first contact us, we ask them, “Well, have you asked this? Have you asked that? Have you considered this? Have you considered that?” They have no idea that families have rights, that they have options, that there are often other treatment options to what they’ve been offered.

The biggest challenge for families in intensive care is that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. 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. That’s where we can help you with very fast here at intensivecarehotline.com.

So, I hope that helps today that if your loved one or if you are being told your loved one needs to be disconnected from life support at a certain time, they say, “Oh tomorrow at three o’clock, we will end life support”, that’s illegal. That’s potentially a criminal act and you need to act against it. Again, we can help you. We’ve turned many situations around. As long as you can follow our advice, I promise you we can stop the ICU from withdrawing treatment without your consent.

So, if you do 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 for families in intensive care where you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in a membership area and via email and we answer all questions intensive care related. I also offer one-to-one consulting advocacy via Skype, Zoom, over the phone, WhatsApp. I can and have been talking to doctors and nurses directly in intensive care. We can also represent you in family meetings in intensive care.

If you need a medical record review in real time, when your loved one is in intensive care, we provide that as well so we can give you a second opinion in real time, often within less than 24 hours. If you need a medical record review after intensive care, if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are simply wanting to know whether there has been medical negligence, please contact us as well.

Thanks for watching.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, click the like button, click the notification bell, and comment below what you want to see next, share the video with your friends and families, and I’ll talk to you in a few days.

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

Take care for now.