Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

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

A couple of days ago, I did a video that the U.K. NHS wants to withdraw life support on a 46-year-old man without family consent. That’s obviously in ICU and the patient is unconscious or not quite conscious yet. Anyway, so I gave the family advice and now they are sending back this following message, and I’m just reading that out.

I encourage you to watch the video that I did a couple of days ago. I will post a link towards this video because, the NHS (National Health Service), like I point out in my other video is the worst offenders in all English-speaking countries, they have no respect and regard to human life in ICU and I stand by that all day, every day. They have killed children in the past such as Alfie Evans or Charlie Gard and have killed other children as well. Why would they have respect or regard for an adult if they’re killing children? Just backed up by the U.K. courts in many cases, even though those children could have gone to other countries such as Italy or the U.S. for further treatment, so think about that.

Anyway, let’s go back to the text message actually that I had from the client who says,

“Hi Patrik,

Thank you for all the links to the NHS and the advice you gave me. I spoke with the ICU consultant on Friday and threatened him with the media and legal action, and I told him that I had written to the hospital CEO and made the complaint, and he said that they are not going to withdraw life support and they have revoked the DNR (Do Not Resuscitate).

Also, my brother is now fully awake since Saturday and they have been trying to get him to breathe with the tracheostomy ventilator, which he managed to do for 12 minutes. I also told them until my brother gets his voice back, I am his voice and advocate. The consultant did say we need to work together on a joint decision and agreed that my brother will be the best person to decide on and future withdrawal of life support.

I understand his prognosis is not good as the infective endocarditis has completely destroyed his aortic valve and he is not fit enough for open heart surgery.

If my brother passes away naturally, that is something I could come to terms with instead of the doctors withdrawing life support without my or my brother’s consent.

Thank you for your advice. You have been amazing.”

Now, a few more things here, 99.9% of families in intensive care, they don’t even know that managing intensive care teams is something they can do. Well, clearly, this family is now managing the intensive care team and not the other way around. The other thing that I advised the family was that, approximately 90%, that’s 9 out of 10 patients in intensive care survived. Well, the odds are in a patient’s favor. So why would we withdraw treatment on a 46-year-old man? With maybe not a great prognosis, but why would we stop trying? How much do we value human life in this day and age? Why is everyone so silent about this? It’s happening in front of our very eyes anyway.

So, what I also advised the family at the time was, “Well, why don’t you let your brother make that decision? Why can’t they wait until he’s waking up? There was no indication that his brain isn’t functioning. He was just in a prolonged induced coma, and it took him time to wake up.  Now, he’s slowly getting there.” They’re cowards. They’re absolute cowards. Why are they not waiting and talk to the patient themselves? So, they would want to kill someone without even talking to them. That is cowardice at its best, and I do believe that in the U.K., in particular, that many intensive care teams have lost their morals and are going against everything that is human.

Also, now all of a sudden, he’s having time off the ventilator. How good is that going from a couple of days ago saying, “Well, he won’t survive.” It’s in his “best interest” to have life support withdrawn, he’s now going from having time off the ventilator.  You also have to question the clinical judgment of intensive care teams in a situation like that. They can’t predict that within a couple of days, you have to question their clinical judgment.

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 exactly what this family was dealing with until they had some first-class advice.

So, it is very, very important that you, as families, do your research and that you’re not afraid to speak up and to stand up because if you are, you’ve already lost the battle. It doesn’t matter whether your brother, your spouse, your mom, your dad, your son, your daughter is 46 or 96, does not make a difference. We should value human life at all costs, and we need to preserve and protect it. That’s what intensive care units are there for, in my mind.

Especially after having worked in critical care for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. We’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care all around the world since then. I can confidently say, just with this testimonial today, that we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy. We have saved many lives, and you can verify that on our testimonial section or on our podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com where we’ve done some client interviews.

That’s also why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, click on the membership link there or you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related.

You also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally recorded and written from all my decades of experience in intensive care nursing, once again, where I worked as a nurse manager for over five years. Those eBooks and videos will help you to steer this incredibly difficult environment that is intensive care, and it will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment, and you can actually save your loved one’s life just like this family did here with first class advice.

I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly and I guide you through this process because this is a once-in-a-lifetime situation that you can’t afford to get wrong, and many families do get it wrong because they don’t even see the wood for the trees. They don’t even know that there’s leverage in advice and that you can start managing intensive care team so that they don’t start managing you. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly and I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one in intensive care. You will see that the dynamics change once the intensive care team knows you have someone on your team that asks the right questions and holds them accountable. When I talk to doctors, once again, I’ll make sure you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

We also offer medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams and have a strategy for you when you go there. 99% of families in intensive care have no strategy when dealing with intensive care teams, and I can help you have a successful strategy, just like our testimony from today shows. Once again, it’s proven, they are proven strategies.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send us an email to support@intensivecarehotline.com.

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on a show and you get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel, or if you subscribe to our email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

Thank you so much for watching.

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

Take care for now.

Related Articles:

Why Should LTAC (long-term acute care) be Avoided? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care! Why Almost Every ICU Team is Wrong About Your Loved One’s Prognosis in Intensive Care! Warning! Here’s Another Sad Story When ICU Patients Go to LTAC! Quick Tip for Families in ICU! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Another Survival Story from an Ex-ICU Patient & Client that the ICU Team Labelled as “Non-Survivable”! Another Testimonial from a Very Happy Client and Getting Results for a Client in ICU!