If you want to know if a stroke patient in ICU can survive on a ventilator, 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.

Today, I’ll answer a question that we get quite frequently, and the question today is, can a stroke patient in intensive care survive on a ventilator?

Now, I’ve asked ChatGPT and we’ll answer ChatGPT says but I also need to say that I have my own opinion because I have worked in critical care and nursing for 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years and where I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com.

I can very, very confidently say that we have saved many lives for our clients in intensive care. You can verify that if you go to our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com or if you go to our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we’ve done client interviews, and they will verify that we saved their loved ones’ lives.

Now, let’s go to our question today, can a stroke patient in ICU or in intensive he can survive on a ventilator?

So, here’s what ChatGPT says, and I think the answer is very incomplete, but I will add on to it. So, ChatGPT says, 

“Yes, a stroke patient in ICU can survive on a ventilator depending on the severity of a stroke, the patient’s overall condition. A ventilator is used to assist or control breathing when the patient’s respiratory function is compromised.

For stroke patients, this may be necessary if the stroke affects areas of the brain that controlled breathing or swallowing or if the patient is unable to maintain adequate oxygen levels on their own.

In the ICU, the focus is on stabilizing the patient, addressing any immediate complications such as difficulties breathing or airway obstruction and providing supportive care. The length of time a stroke patient remains on a ventilator depends on the specific circumstances of the stroke, the patient’s recovery progress, and whether they can regain independent breathing ability.

However, long-term reliance on a ventilator may indicate a poor prognosis and decisions about weaning off the ventilator are usually made as patient’s condition improves or worsens in collaboration with the medical team.”

That’s what ChatGPT says. Now, I think this is a very incomplete answer. It’s a very incomplete answer. So, let’s break this down further. 

I agree with some of the things that are being said in here. Some of it is dependent whether the patient can regain independent breathing ability, but some of it is not dependent on whether the patient can regain independent breathing ability.

So, for example, if a patient can’t be weaned off the ventilator after a stroke with the breathing tube, it could have a tracheostomy. So, I’m surprised that ChatGPT is not even mentioning a tracheostomy. I’m wondering, does ChatGPT even know what a tracheostomy is?

So, long-term reliance on a ventilator that may or may not indicate a poor prognosis. But the question is, what is the patient’s goal? At no point in time is ChatGPT talking about what is a patient’s goal, What’s their family’s goal? At no point in time is ChatGPT allowing the individuality of a patient or a family to take its place. Like what if the family or the patient wants a tracheostomy, wants to go home with services like Intensive Care at Home and you can find more information at intensivecareathome.com.

What is a poor prognosis? It’s a perception. It’s a perception. It may be a poor, it may not. The patient might improve, they may not. It also says and decisions about weaning off the ventilator are usually made as the patient’s condition improves or worsens in collaboration with the medical team. What about in collaboration with a patient or a family? What about that? Who would have guessed?

Just because I talk from experience, we have a number of clients in the community with Intensive Care at Home that are on ventilators with tracheostomy that had strokes that had other significant neurological conditions, and they actually want to live. They do want to live. So, at no point is ChatGPT individualizing or acknowledging the patients or the families, which is disappointing. So, ChatGPT has to take more human elements into their answer.

So, also keep in mind that approximately 90% of intensive care patients survive, that’s 9-0 or 9 out of 10.

Now, here’s another tip. I actually looked up on Google, “What’s the mortality rate in patients with ischemic stroke? We needed mechanical ventilation.” So, the one-year mortality is around 55%. It’s approximately 50% that needed mechanical ventilation with an ischemic stroke was 55%. So, there’s a large number of patients also dying but the question is, did they end up with a tracheostomy, for example? 

So, it’s also an incomplete study I believe. Again, what if patients live for 9 months but they wanted to live, and they had a good quality of life? This is a bad quality of life. It’s not about what people think, and quality of life is a perception, it’s an individual’s perception of what is a good quality of life or what isn’t.

So, I hope that helps you understand.

Like I said, you may want to have a look at the intensivecareathome.com where we help patients and families in intensive care to continue care and treatment at home in the comfort of their own home. We’re sending our critical care nurses into the home with Intensive Care at Home to keep our clients safe at home and provide a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in intensive care.

That’s why we helped hundreds and hundreds of members and clients over the years to improve their lives instantly, making sure they have peace of mind, control, power, and influence so that can make informed decisions so that their critically ill loved ones get best care and treatment always.

That’s also why we create 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 have personally written and recorded, making sure you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence so that your critically ill loved one gets best care and treatment always.

I also 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 talk to doctors and nurses directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply can’t afford to get wrong. When I talk to doctors and nurses directly, I ask them 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 on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

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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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