Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

If you want to know more reasons why a loved one should never go from ICU to LTAC, if you have a loved one in intensive care in the USA, stay tuned. I’ve got news for you.

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I have another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So, we are working with a client currently who sends the following email,

“I remember when my fiancé was transferred to Kindred LTAC (Long Term Acute Care), and they have made him dramatically decline. Now, he’s on the ventilator again. To sum it up real fast, he has ICP (increased intracranial pressure) which is accumulating by the second due to ignorance in TBI patients (TBI stands for traumatic brain injury).

They were about to transfer him to another lower level of care the other day, but I got a nurse to hear me, look at his symptoms finally, and she called the doctor, and they ordered a CT (computed tomography) scan. It prompted the doctor to immediately put him in the ICU back again, and they just did another CT scan a few hours ago. They’re supposed to be sending him back to the ICU, but they’re taking their sweet time and waiting for the radiologist to come and read results.

How do I get them to hurry the hell up? He’s already been like this for way too long. Excuse my grammar and language right now. All the beeping and the urgency right now is really stressing me out, and the look in my fiancé’s eyes is scaring me.”

As some of you do know, I have been saying for over 10 years now here at intensivecarehotline.com that if you have a family member in intensive care in the United States, do not let them go to LTAC and we have proven strategies of helping you keep your loved one in ICU.

We have so many client testimonials that you can check out at intensivecarehotline.com in our testimonial section, and we also have podcast where we’ve done client interviews to verify that we’ve helped clients in the U.S. to keep their loved ones in ICU instead of going to LTAC. We have proven strategies, and you just need to apply them. There’s always a way. If there’s a will, there’s a way. The problem is, most families in intensive care don’t have enough will, they just get walked all over and they don’t even realize it is happening.

Unfortunately, this client came to us only after they had their fiancé go into LTAC from ICU. They didn’t know about us before they went into LTAC, and then they realized how bad it is. They realized very quickly that LTAC could be a death sentence for their fiancé. I encourage you to look up online reviews for LTACs.

Another thing that I encourage you to do is, I have done a video about six months ago titled “10 Reasons Why LTACs in the U.S. Are a Scam.” I encourage you to watch that video. I’ve been talking to LTACs on and off over the years, especially when we had clients there. They have no idea what they’re talking about. They put on their websites that they specialize in ventilation weaning. Well, I encourage you to look up what families say. Look up online reviews. It is an absolute disaster area. LTACs are designed to empty ICU beds, to free up ICU beds. They’re not designed for clinical care.

Here is another sign why LTACs are a scam. Many clients have come to us and said, “Oh, we didn’t know about you, and our loved one went to LTAC, and within 24 hours, they bounced back into ICU.” It’s getting better, but then bouncing back into another ICU, because the ICU where they got discharged from no longer has a bed available. So that means there are a lot of patients who go from ICU to LTAC to another ICU within 24–48 hours. That is madness. That’s absolute madness. A critically ill patient needs continuity of care. They need a stable team around them, not being shifted from place to place. That is negligence, as far as I’m concerned.

It still boggles my mind that when families have loved ones in ICU that they don’t do their own research. You need to do your own research. When you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care. The system is rigged against you unless you know what to do, unless you get a second opinion, unless you have someone on your team who understands intensive care inside out, because that is what you need.

I’ve worked in critical care nursing in three different countries for 25 years, and I’ve worked as a nurse manager in intensive care for over 5 years and I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care all around the world here at intensivecarehotline.com since 2013.

I can confidently say that we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy and have improved many lives instantly. You can verify that in our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com. You can also have a look at our intensivecarehotline.com podcast, where we’ve done client interviews. You can verify that we have helped save their loved one’s lives or prevented them from going from ICU to LTAC.

We have helped hundreds of members and clients over the years that’s why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, click on the membership link, or if 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, we answer all intensive care-related questions, making sure you get real results.

You also have exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that I’ve personally written and recorded for you. All the access to me and my team, the e-books and videos, will help you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

I also do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, or WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once-in-a-lifetime situation that you simply cannot afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly, and when I talk to them directly on your behalf or with you, I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care. I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

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

All of that, you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers at the top of our website or send us an email at [email protected] with your questions.

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, and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on the show, and you will get a notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel or if you are a subscriber to my 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. Bye.

Related Articles:

How to Approach “Best Interest” Meetings in Intensive Care! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care! How to Deal with the Consistent Negative Talk from ICU Teams! Quick Tip for Families in ICU! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: I Agreed to Stop Life Support for My Dad in ICU Six Months Ago! Did I Make the Right Decision? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Doctors Want to Send My Mom to a Nursing Home After Tracheostomy in a Natural Coma. What are the Options? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: After 6 Days on a Ventilator, ICU Wants to Send My Dad to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) Even Though He’s Making Progress! Help!