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

So yesterday, I was on a call with one of our clients in the U.S. who has his mom in the ICU for about three months. Now, the ICU was threatening him for a few days now, saying that his mom needs to go to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) and that he has no choice and that if he doesn’t select an LTAC for his mom, they will select one for him and that she will just be moved, and that’s just the way it is.

So, we had a meeting with the case manager, and I was on the phone with him to the case manager and I was witnessing what was happening when the case manager said those very words to him. Then, I said to the case manager, “Well, please, show us the hospital discharge policy”, and I hadn’t even finished my sentence. Then she said, “Oh, we will certainly do that. Well, as per hospital discharge policy, she can’t be moved without power of attorney or next of kin consent anyway.” So, she was very quickly back paddling by me exposing her lie in saying, “Oh, well, that’s just the way it is.” No, it’s not the way it is.

There’s a number of things that need to happen before patients go to LTAC, including consent from either a patient, or the next of kin, or power of attorney. If a patient is not in a position to give consent themselves, and our client’s mother is not in a position to advocate or speak for herself.

So, what’s the lesson here? The lesson here, unfortunately, is that you can’t believe a word of what some hospitals or ICUs are telling you there, especially in the U.S. when it comes from going from ICU to LTAC. The case manager implying, “Well, that’s just the way it is.” Well, that’s not accurate.

The way it is that they need consent from either the patient themselves or from you, watching this. I assume if you’re watching this, you have a loved one in intensive care. You are probably the power of attorney, or the next of kin, you are the decision maker.

Don’t be fooled. You might not be the decision-maker on paper. You might not have a piece of paper that says you are the medical power of attorney. But after all, after having worked in ICU for over 20 years in three different countries and after having advocated and consulted families in intensive care, all around the world since 2013, I can assure you if the hospital has asked you to give consent for a medical procedure, i.e., for surgery, for central line insertion, for bronchoscopy, for tracheostomy, for a gastroscopy, whatever it is, you are the power of attorney. Don’t be fooled.

Don’t have them just pick the side of the power of attorney that works for them. If you have already given consent to procedures that your loved one can’t consent to because they’re in a coma or they’re too sick, you are the one giving consent, whether your loved one should go to LTAC or not. If you say no, that is your decision, and hospital policies will confirm that they can’t send your loved one out to LTAC without you giving consent. So, keep that in mind.

It’s another case study that our strategies work, that our research about hospitals works, and that often all you have to do is push back and don’t give up just because they’re making it hard for you.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

We have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. If you go to intensivecarehotline.com and you click on the membership link, you can get access there or you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. If you are a member in our membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, 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 for families in intensive care. I talk to doctors and nurses directly. I consult with you and your families directly. I ask all the questions to the hospital and the ICU team that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked so that you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams so that you don’t get walked all over, so that you have a clinical voice on your team, so that the intensive care team knows you have someone on your team that understands intensive care just as well as they do. It’s very, very important.

I will also strategize with you whether you should even go into a family meeting. Most families they get told by intensive care teams, “Oh. we’re having a family meeting tomorrow at three o’clock”. When the intensive care team says “Jump”, the families ask how high. You need to stop that. You need to have this situation on your terms, not on their terms.

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

Lastly, 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, comment below what you want to see next and share the video with your friends and families.

Go to intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send us an email to [email protected].

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care for now.