Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Did My Brother in ICU Have a Heart Attack After He Dropped His Oxygen Levels on the Ventilator?

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

Today, I want again to showcase to you what you get if you are part of our membership at intensivecaresupport.org, membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, where we answer all your questions and where we also review medical records for you if that’s what you like.

So just reading out again how we helped a member. It’s just an example from one of the members that we think we helped save her brother’s life who was very, very sick in the ICU for many months. And the ICU team wanted to pull out on him, wanted to withdraw treatment  on a number of occasions saying, well, he’s not going to improve. This is a young man 35-years of age with a young family. He’s now after many months in ICU, finally home and slowly improving.

But anyway, let me read out one of the emails from our member when her brother was in ICU and how we advise our members, and you can get the same if you become a member at intensivecaresupport.org and we can help you there.

So, here’s an email from a member who says, “Thank you so much. My brother had desaturation around 8 p.m. His oxygen dropped to 84. His heart rate was very high and so was his blood pressure. My sister-in-law was there and said my brother was hyperventilating and turning red. The doctor thought he was agitated, but we are concerned he could have a heart attack especially after the damage with the last cardiac arrest a few months ago. Do you think they should do another echocardiogram or what other tests should be done? Any advice would be appreciated”.

And here is our response.

“Thank you so much for the update. You mentioned that your brother had desaturation down to 84% and his heart rate and blood pressure were very high. We need to know his situation prior to and during the incident, for how long it occurred and how it was resolved. They need to always ensure that his tracheostomy tube is clear of any secretions that may impede the airway that could cause a desaturation.

Another thing may be because he experienced a sudden onset of severe pain. It needs to be further monitored and referred accordingly for any recurring events like this. We haven’t seen any online reports yet again from the nurses and doctors documenting the incidents. They should practice real-time documentation”.

We monitor and advise further and then the online report came on and then we’d send another email and say, “Please see the latest reports from the online chart. The lab results for blood chemistry and complete blood count appear stable so far. They repeated his chest x-ray  which shows basilar streaky opacities which may represent atelectasis or are developing consolidations. The doctors need to review this.

One of the doctor’s most recent progress reports, he noted Erythromycin was once given and he had a large bowel motion. No updated information per his assessment and plan. Vital signs and heart rate are very high at 110 beats per minute at 8 a.m. and the blood pressure was elevated, 164/77 at 7 a.m. Otherwise, other numbers are ok.

His gross urine output for the last 24 hours is very low. They need to check on this if it’s accurate. He’s been seen by the psychiatry doctor who recommended tapering, then discontinuing the lorazepam and advised to increase gabapentin which is tolerated and to restart the melatonin. The advice of the psych doctor needs to be discussed with the ICU doctors. Please see further details below”.

So, there was nothing that suggested a heart attack. But furthermore, there was nothing that needed an echocardiogram at this stage.

So, but in any case, this is how we advise our members and how we help them to make sense of what can be a very overwhelming situation when you have a loved one, critically ill, in intensive care. And we really break down the medical records on a day-by-day basis and put layman’s terms around it because as you will know, intensive care teams tell you things in ways that you can’t understand. And they only tell you half of the story and that’s why it’s so important that you have someone reviewing the medical records in real time so you can make sense out of what’s happening. I hope that helps. We can do the same for you.

If you have a loved one in intensive care and you want to join our membership, go to intensivecaresupport.org  and have a look there. There you have access to me and my team 24 hours a day in a membership area and via email and we answer all questions, intensive care related.

I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone via Skype, via Zoom and via WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you.

And we also review medical records in real time if you have access to them and if you don’t have access to them, let us know, we can help you with getting access to medical records. And if you need a medical record review after intensive care, if you have unanswered questions or you need closure or you’re simply suspecting medical negligence, please contact us as well.

And if you have questions about everything that we do and offer, please go to 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 this video, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell. Comment below what you want to see next or what questions and insights you have. Share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next or what questions and insights you have.

Thank you so much for watching.

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

Take care for now.

Related Articles:

Quick Tip for Families in ICU: You Were Absolutely Right, LTAC is a Complete Waste of Time After ICU! Quick Tip for Families in ICU: How to Avoid Euthanasia in ICU After Tracheostomy! Quick tip for families in ICU: Two steps forward one step back when your loved one is in ICU! (Part 2) Quick Tip for Families in ICU: Should You Stop Treatment if Your Loved One’s in Multi Organ Failure? Quick Tip for Families in ICU: Should your Loved One Go from ICU to LTAC with Multiple Comorbidities?