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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care. So, I had an email from a client who says, “My loved one has been in intensive care for 28 days on a ventilator in an induced coma”. And I’m paraphrasing, “Her breathing tube shoved down the throat”. So those are not my words, those are what the client said in the email.

So obviously, that is very, very concerning, because if your loved one can’t come off the ventilator after 28 days in ICU, in an induced coma, they need to have a tracheostomy. If you look at the literature, if you look at the research, the tracheostomy should be done day 10 to day 14 after induced coma and mechanical ventilation. Assuming your loved one can’t come off the ventilator, I’m assuming there’s a reason why your loved one is in an induced coma. It’s not quite clear to me why.

But the bottom line is that, your loved one should have a tracheostomy by now because from the email I’m gathering, you are lost at what to do next. And the next step is, your loved one needs to have a tracheostomy, come out of the induced coma. Or you should also find out why is your loved one not having a tracheostomy? Is he or she on blood thinners? Are there any contraindications? Does your loved one have a short neck? Do they have a high PEEP (Positive End-Expiratory Pressure)? Do they have high FIO2 (Fraction Of Inspired Oxygen)? Do they have high pressure support levels? What are their blood gases like? What do chest X-rays  look like?

Again, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply 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. And that’s one of the biggest challenges your loved one won’t be able to move forward if they stay in the induced coma for more than 10 or 14 days, because if they’ve been in an induced coma for so long, there’s muscles wastage, there’s deconditioning. Every day is a massive risk and they need to get out of this induced coma. They need to start physical therapy. They need to start getting mobilized. Otherwise, things can go downhill pretty quickly.

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 send us an email to [email protected].

Also, have a look at our membership for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org.

If you need a medical record review for your loved one in intensive care or after intensive care, if you want to find out if there’s been medical negligence, you should contact us as well.

And, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and share this video with your friends and families. You get regular videos here for families in intensive care and Intensive Care at Home. I also do regular YouTube lives, usually on a Saturday and Sunday, where I answer your question live on a livestream.

Now, click the like button and click the subscribe button.

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care.