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

So, today’s tip is once again about, “LTAC and patients going from ICU to LTAC.” This is specifically for our U.S. audience. Many families contact us that ICU wants to do a tracheostomy and a PEG tube and then send their loved ones to LTAC.

Now, as you would’ve heard me say before, over and over again in many of my other videos, your loved one might need a tracheostomy depending on the situation, but you should check in with us whether a tracheostomy is appropriate or not. But you would’ve also heard me saying that a PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) tube is not necessary, especially if your loved one is at risk of going to LTAC. The nasogastric tube will do, will suffice and that puts a stop to your loved one going to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care), but this also leads to another issue.

You might have heard me say before that LTACs are not equipped to look after ventilation and tracheostomy for reasons that I’ve outlined in other videos. But here is a question for you and for anyone watching this to consider, how can LTACs look after someone on a ventilator if they can’t even handle a nasogastric tube? They don’t want to take or they can’t because they’re lacking the skills and the knowledge to manage patients with a nasogastric tube.

If they could manage it, then they could probably also look after the ventilator. But how can they manage a ventilator and a tracheostomy if they can’t even manage a nasogastric tube? I guess anybody with critical care nursing or medical skills should ponder that question and any family should ponder that question.

It’s much easier to look after a PEG tube once a PEG tube is in, but a PEG tube should be avoided because it implies often that people will never eat or drink again, and that is something that should be avoided. An LTAC should facilitate weaning someone off a ventilator and end a feeding tube as quickly as possible. However, in reality, that is not what’s happening. Patients are often deteriorating very quickly once they go from ICU to LTAC.

So, just some thoughts for you to ponder that you need to avoid LTAC at all costs. LTACs not being able to look after the nasogastric tube is one of the many reasons why they’re not equipped to wean patients off a ventilator.  Simply lacking skills, knowledge, insights, and often also compassion saying, “Well, this is the best that we can do”, and that’s simply not good enough.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

If you have a loved one in intensive care, 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.

Also, have a look at our membership for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org. 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.

If you need a medical record review for your loved one in ICU in real time, we provide that as well. We provide medical record reviews in real time in ICU. We also provide medical record reviews after intensive care, especially if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure or if you suspect medical negligence, we can help you with all of that.

Now, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, or what questions and insights you have.

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care.