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

Today’s tip is about how we helped a 90-year-old patient in ICU to get extubated after the ICU team wanted to move towards palliation and the withdrawal of treatment pretty quickly.

Like I’ve been saying for many, many years and after I have worked in critical care 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 confidently say that we have saved many lives as you can verify on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com or on our podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com where we’ve done client interviews, and you can verify all the work that we’ve done.

We can build up another case study here once again where we helped a client’s family to get their 90-year-old father extubated after 2 weeks in ICU where the ICU was pushing towards initially end of life, then they wanted to do a tracheostomy. We looked at the medical records, we looked at the ventilator settings and we said, “No, hold off. Let’s keep weaning this gentleman while he’s making progress.” Lo and behold, after a good 14 days in ICU, he got extubated. He’s been successfully extubated in the last 48 hours.

Whilst I believe he’s not quite out of the woods yet, it goes to show what a second opinion can help with. It goes to show that if you have someone on your side, a team on your side that can handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply can’t afford to get wrong, that “miracles” or turnarounds can actually happen, but you need that guidance.

If you go just with whatever intensive care teams say, you mustn’t forget that they have their own agenda and their own agenda is often to empty the ICU bed as quickly as possible, which can happen (A) by providing end of life care, moving people to hospice or palliative care. That’s one way to empty the ICU bed, or the other way to empty the ICU bed is by doing a tracheostomy and a PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) tube and then sending them out to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care). That is predominantly in the U.S., this is a client in the U.S.

It just goes to show that you need to have another set of eyes, and it also goes to show you need to take responsibility for outcomes. It also goes to show you need to take full responsibility for what happens and what questions you ask and who you talk to.

That’s what we do here at intensivecarehotline.com. We help families in intensive care to get results and results is actually the name of the game.

You also always need to make a distinction between, is this a real or a perceived end of life situation? In this situation, clearly, it was a perceived end of life situation. The intensive care team had the perception that it wasn’t a perceived end of life situation. Nothing more than that. The real end of life situation on the other hand, is if no treatment, no surgery, no equipment, no medications, no nothing can save someone’s life. That’s a real end of life situation.

I argue the vast majority of “end of life” situations in intensive care are perceived end of life situations simply because 90% of intensive care patients approximately survive. The odds are in your loved one’s favor.

Because we want to help as many families in intensive care as possible, that’s why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. We have helped hundreds and hundreds of members and clients over the years, getting real results for their loved ones in intensive care, getting outcome saving lives, prolonging life. All of that is documented on our testimonial section, on our podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com.

In the membership that we’ve created, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and by 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 helping you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

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 like I said, and my team and we answer all questions, intensive care related.

I also do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, WhatsApp, Skype, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I hand hold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply can’t afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly. When I talk doctors and nurses directly, 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. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are simply 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.

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, 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 notified 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 at intensivecarehotline.com.

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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Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Weaning off VA ECMO and VV ECMO Simultaneously? Quick Tip for Families in ICU: Extubation, Tracheostomy or Hospice? What is Best for My Loved One? Quick Tip for Families in ICU: The Difference Between “Ending Suffering” and Continuing Treatment! Quick Tip for Families in ICU: My Wife’s in ICU with Cardiac Arrest & Tracheostomy, Can I Make Decisions? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: My 28-year-old Husband had a Liver Stab Wound & His Heart Stopped! ICU Wants to Stop Treatment, Help!