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

Now, currently we’re working with the number of clients who have their loved ones in ICU. And the ICU wants to do a tracheostomy and they want to send them on to LTAC or long-term acute care. That’s for clients in the United States, I should stress that, that’s only for clients in the United States.

So what we’re finding is that ICU’s are trying to sell a “one-size-fits-all approach” that when somebody is failing one attempt of weaning off the ventilator and the breathing tube, they’re quick on saying the patient needs a tracheostomy and then they need to go on to LTAC rather than trying to second, third or even a fourth time to get those patients off the ventilator in the first place.

Now the trajectory of a patient with a tracheostomy is very different compared to a patient that can be weaned off the ventilator and the breathing tube in ICU because a tracheostomy often implies long-term ventilation in an institution like LTAC or long-term acute care.

The outlook of a patient having the breathing tube removed and being extubated and going on to a hospital ward is very different and the rehabilitation is shortened by often many weeks or many months. So don’t buy into the one-size-fits-all approach that if a patient fails extubation once, that they need to have a tracheostomy. They need to try twice, three times, maybe even four times in order to avoid a tracheostomy and avoid LTAC or long-term acute care.

That’s my tip for today. This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I’ll talk to you in a few days.