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If you think that the things that you’re observing when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care are common sense and the ICU team is trying to persuade you they’re not common sense, stay tuned. I’m going to break this down for you today.

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

So, if you think things that you’re observing that you think should happen in ICU, that are common sense, they are. If you think the ICU team is trying to persuade you that they’re not common sense, don’t let them fool you. Don’t let them put your blinders on. Always trust your gut, always.

Now, let’s break this down today, so that you can understand what I’m talking about in more detail.

So, the first common thing that families are observing that are common sense and yet the ICU team is trying to persuade them they’re not common sense is end of life. How many phone calls do we get every week? How many emails do we get every week where we have families in intensive care calling us or telling us that the ICU team says we should withdraw life support, we should move your loved one to end of life, to a hospice, to palliative care because it’s “not in their best interest” to live.

What should I say about that? That is not common sense, that is not common sense. Common sense is for people to live, to enjoy every minute. So, use your common sense here and it’s normal that you want your loved one to live. It is not in the best interest of your loved one to die. That is complete and utter nonsense.

There are exceptions to that rule, but in 99.9% of the cases, your loved one wants to live and doesn’t want to die, and there’s always hope. So, use common sense there.

Next, mobilization. If your critically ill loved one has been withering away in bed in ICU for weeks or months on end, they’re not getting mobilized and you’ve been asking for it, and the ICU team is telling you they’re not doing that, that is not common sense. Common sense is to mobilize a patient in intensive care, that is common sense. It happens in a good ICU, always, always, always. So, don’t let again the intensive care team put your blinders on about mobilization is not common sense. Plenty of research, plenty of studies out there that mobilization in intensive care will help with a better recovery, will help with weaning off a ventilator, and so forth.

That leads me to number 3, weaning off a ventilator. Don’t let anyone dissuade you that your loved one needs a tracheostomy. The goal should always be to wean them off the ventilator and the breathing tube to begin with, without needing a tracheostomy, that should always be the goal, always. Now, once again, a tracheostomy has its time and its place, but a tracheostomy should not happen until the intensive care team has done everything beyond the shadow of a doubt to wean your loved one off the ventilator, and that is also common sense. If intensive care teams tell you otherwise, that is not accurate. It is common sense to try and wean someone off the ventilator as quickly as possible and avoid the tracheostomy.

Next number 4, opiates and sedatives, similar to weaning off the ventilator, need to be weaned off as quickly as possible. Just this week we’re working with a client where we help advocate to get sedation and opiates removed from a 19-year-old boy in ICU. The family reached out for help, we were making a compelling piece for our client, advocacy piece. I’ve got the intensive care team to remove opiates and benzodiazepines with good outcomes, that is also common sense. Don’t let intensive care teams tell you that it’s common sense to use as many opiates or benzodiazepines, and sedation as possible. That is not common sense.

Lastly, Intensive Care at Home. Intensive Care at Home is a much-needed service for long-term intensive care patients. That is common sense because that’s where people want to be. If they can’t leave intensive care long-term, they do want to be at home. That is also common sense. Don’t let intensive care units or intensive care teams tell you they haven’t heard of Intensive Care at Home, or they don’t know what Intensive Care at Home is all about and whether that would work. That is common sense to use Intensive Care at Home for long-term intensive care patients.

So, to sum it all up, do trust your eyes and don’t let intensive care teams because of their perceived power try and persuade you not to use common sense. If it looks like common sense, it is common sense. The intensive care team is trying to persuade you it’s not common sense, they have their own agenda. What is their own agenda? Their own agenda is to empty ICU beds as quickly as possible, to save money, to maximize revenue, to manage staff, to manage equipment. It’s not about the patient’s best interests sometimes.

There are exceptions to the rule, and there’s a lot of good things happening in ICU, but the reality is that families that are coming to us here at intensivecareholine.com, they are dealing with the most critical situations, and they need help. That’s why I make this video today about common sense in intensive care. If your eyes tell you it’s common sense, it is common sense. Trust your gut.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in 3 different countries where I worked as a nurse unit manager in intensive care for over 5 years, and I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecareholine.com. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy for our clients in intensive care. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecareholine.com, and you can verify that on our intensivecareholine.com podcast where we’ve done client interviews with our clients who will verify in those interviews that we helped them save their loved one’s life in intensive care with our consulting and advocacy.

That’s why we helped hundreds and hundreds of members over the years and clients over the years to improve their lives instantly when they have their loved one in intensive care, including saving their loved one’s lives.

That’s why I do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, 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 on your behalf or with you. When I talk to doctors and nurses directly in intensive care, 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.

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you 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, and we answer all questions intensive care related. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that I’ve personally written and recorded, so that you make informed decisions, you have peace of mind, control, power, and influence so that your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

All of that, you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [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, share this video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next and what questions and insights you have from this video.

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

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.

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