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

So at the moment, we are working with a client who has their elderly dad in ICU, and he’s been suffering from a severe pneumonia and he’s been in ICU for a couple of months.

Initially he had a tracheostomy because he couldn’t be weaned off the ventilator. And after many weeks of physiotherapy, mobilization, eventually the client’s dad could have time off the ventilator. And then the client contacts me again and says, “Hey, they want to decannulate my dad on Monday or whatever day it was, but I don’t think he’s ready. What should I do?”.

So the ICU there has been very reluctant to release medical records to our client, which is, obviously against patient’s rights, it’s against laws. It makes you wonder what do ICUs have to hide if they can’t release medical records? Because it would’ve been easy for someone to glance over it because that’s what we do here at Intensive Care Hotline. We look at medical records and we probably could have easily pointed out that the client wasn’t ready for decannulation and the client said, “Look, my gut is telling me my dad is not ready for decannulation”. Anyway, cutting a long story short, client got decannulated even though he expressed to the ICU team that he didn’t think his dad was ready. But nevertheless, they did it anyway.

So now after a few days of decannulation, the ICU doctor is telling the client that the dad has a very weak cough and can’t clear the airway and, but they won’t put the tracheostomy back in because, they’re saying it’s not “in the best interest” of our client’s dad. Well, I have yet to find out if someone dying is in their best interest, why would that be the case? So, and ICU is saying that “it’s not in the best interest” of a client to live or a patient to live is ludicrous to me. Especially since the client’s dad mentioned himself that he wants to live and that he wants everything done. He wants the tracheostomy back and he doesn’t want to die. So, by health professionals in ICU not following patient’s requests, that’s highly unethical and immoral as far as I’m concerned. Especially with services now like Intensive Care at Home, where long-term ventilated patients can go home on ventilation with tracheostomy. If people want to live, then give them the option to live and don’t make assumption that “it’s in the best interest for them to die”. You should check out intensivecareathome.com for more information what we do there. Because we basically send intensive care nurses into the home for long-term ventilated adults and children with tracheostomy. And also, if someone goes home only with a tracheostomy or if someone goes home on BiPAP or CPAP ventilation, that would’ve been an option for this gentleman.

We are currently operating in Australia, all major capital cities with Intensive Care at Home. You should check out intensivecareathome.com, but even if you are in the UK or in the U.S. or in Canada, you should contact us as well. I’m sure we can help you with pointing you in the right direction one way or another, what to do if you are in a situation like that. So that is my quick tip for today.

The tip really is look for options such as Intensive Care at Home, look for medical records as quickly as possible. You might sometimes have to get a lawyer or an attorney or a barrister involved to get medical records released. It’s very unfortunate, your red flag should go up straight away. If an ICU doesn’t want to release medical records in any jurisdiction, that is your right, not a privilege, that is your right. And if they don’t want to release medical records, why is that? What is it they have to hide?

And the tip is also you should listen to your gut. I’ve written articles about when a client is ready or when a patient is ready for decannulation of the tracheostomy. I’ll post it below this video. You can have a look when a client is or patient is ready for decannulation once their weaned off the ventilator.

So that’s my tip for today.

If you have a loved one in intensive care and you need questions answered, 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].

And if you have a loved one in intensive care, long-term ventilated, or with a tracheostomy that you want to take home, have a look at intensivecareathome.com and contact us there.

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

Also, if you need a medical record review while your loved one is in intensive care, you should contact us as well. We also review medical records after intensive care, especially if you’re suspecting medical negligence.

Now, if you like the video, give it a thumbs up, share the video with your friends and families, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in Intensive Care and Intensive Care at Home, and click the notification bell and comment below what you want to see next, or what questions and insights you have from this video.

Thanks for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from Intensive Care Hotline and intensivecareathome.com, and I’ll talk to you in a few days. Take care.