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If you want to know at what stage you should seek help for your loved one in intensive care when they’re ventilated with a breathing tube, stay tuned. I’ve got news for you.

So currently, we’re working with a client who has their dad in ICU with a pneumonia and he’s been ventilated for about 10 days now with a breathing tube. Now, the intensive care team is starting to talk about either doing a tracheostomy or moving their dad to a hospice and towards the end of life.

Now, this is a gentleman in his early 70s who was up until this pneumonia previously fit and healthy, no major health issues. He’s been living independently. Now, all of a sudden, they’re saying, “Well, you’ve got two options. You’ve got doing a tracheostomy and a PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) tube.” This is a client in the U.S., “or you are going for end of life.”

Well, what about the third option which would actually be the best option? What about weaning him off the ventilator and taking out the breathing tube and avoiding the tracheostomy?

So, with all of that said, when should you ask for help? Well, you should ask for help Day 1. You need to get a second opinion Day 1. So, you shouldn’t be asking on Day 10, whether he should have a tracheostomy or he should have hospice. He should have neither of it. He should be weaned off that ventilator and the breathing tube as quickly as possible. That would be a much better option, and it’s the best option.

So, picture those three options.

Number one, weaning him off the ventilator, taking out the breathing tube, and then move him to a hospital floor or a hospital ward and get him back to normality, get him mobilized again, get him back home again. That is the best option.

Number two, having a tracheostomy and they also want to push a PEG tube and then send him to an LTAC (Long Term Acute Care). Well, that’s not a good option and should be avoided. Once again, the question that you need to ask from Day 1 when you have a loved one on a ventilator in an induced coma is how can we get rid of this ventilator as quickly as possible?

The third option is to basically move him to hospice and end of life.

Now, think about that. With those two options that the hospital is presenting to the family, it basically tells you in no uncertain terms, “We want the ICU bed empty as quickly as possible whether that’s by sending him to an LTAC with the tracheostomy or whether that’s by moving him to hospice and provide end of life can let him die. We don’t really care. We just want him out.” That’s not a very caring approach.

You need to ask from Day 1, how can they wean your family member off the ventilator? What are they doing from Day 1 beyond the shadow of a doubt to avoid a tracheostomy? It’s a very important question to ask.

I’ve written an article and made a video about, “How to wean a critically patient off the ventilator and the breathing tube?” I will post below this video this article, I think it’s such a critical piece of information that I’ve made over the years because it’s another sign that you can’t just wait until Day 10.

Now, the other thing that’s coming out of this situation is that this particular gentleman has been sedated for 8 out of those 10 days. The question is why? Apparently, the pneumonia has been cleared. So, why would he need to be sedated for so long? The sooner you can take someone off sedation, the quicker they should be able to be extubated and have the breathing tube removed.

Every day when someone is in an induced coma is delaying them getting stronger. If anything, patients in an induced coma decondition every day significantly and the more they decondition, the more difficult it is to wean them off the ventilator because their breathing muscles get big and so forth.

So, how quick should you get a second opinion? How quick should you get help? The minute you have a loved one in intensive care, it’s very simple. So, you need to put pressure on them from Day 1 to avoid a tracheostomy, to avoid hospice, and wean your loved one off that ventilator because that is the best-case scenario so that the loved one can go home as quickly as possible, go back to normality as quickly as possible.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries. I have worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care all around the world since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com.

I can confidently, confidently say that we have saved many lives for our clients in intensive care. You can verify that by reading up our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com and read what our clients say, or you can watch our intensivecarehotline.com podcast where we’ve done some client interviews, and those clients will verify that we helped them save their loved ones’ lives.

We have helped hundreds of members and clients over the years, that’s why we’ve created 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, then 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. The access to me and my team and the access to the e-books and videos will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind control, power, and influence, making sure your 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 handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply can’t afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctor and nurses directly. When I talk to doctor 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.

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.

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, share this video with your friends and families and 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 notification 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.

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.

Related Articles:

Quick Tip for Families in ICU: When Is a Tracheostomy Inevitable? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: COVID-19 and ARDS, When is ECMO an Option? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: What Can Happen If You Place a Person on a Ventilator Too Soon or Before it’s Critically Needed? Quick Tip for Families in ICU: Why There Can Be Delays with a Tracheostomy with COVID-19 Patient in ICU? Quick Tip for Families in ICU: Is My Dad Really in Multi Organ Failure in ICU? Can He Survive?