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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 about an email that we got from a reader who says, “I don’t think that ICU is doing everything to save my mom’s life.” And I’m not surprised to read that because this is pretty much what we are dealing with here at intensivecarehotline.com every day of the week, all around the world, that families think that ICUs are negative, that they’re not transparent, that they’re not answering your questions, that they don’t have time to talk to you, and they just brush you off by being negative, painting a doom and gloom picture, and making statements such as, “Your mom, your dad, your spouse, whatever, won’t have any quality of life if they’re surviving anyway.”

So, it comes down to the right to asking the right questions. It comes down to the right advocacy. It comes down to talking to someone that can give you a second opinion. It comes down to knowing someone that can actually manage doctors and nurses in intensive care, and that’s what we are specialized on here at intensivecarehotline.com.

So, if you are concerned that the ICU team is not doing everything, they should be doing to save your mom’s life, again, it’s about asking the right questions. I have written an article with what questions to ask, but obviously, the shortcut is to talk to me directly so I can set you up with the right questions and look at the situation and understanding the situation because ICU is really a piecing together a puzzle that is difficult to understand. If you haven’t worked there for decades, like I have, it takes years of training, it takes years of practice, years of experience in the environment to really understand what’s going on, to know about treatment options, to know about what’s really going on in an ICU, why ICUs are saying what they’re saying, which is often because they manage financial budgets, they manage beds, they manage staff.  So, a lot of it you need to read between the lines. If there’s a shortage of beds in ICU, which there is, if there’s a shortage of staff in ICU, which there is, the ICU will tell you things like, “Oh, well, if your mom survives, she won’t have any quality of life anyway” because then it’s easier for them to withdraw treatment and potentially let patients die and that frees up a bed in ICU. It’s the harsh reality. I have worked in intensive care for over 20 years in three different countries. I think I can have an educated opinion on this, and that’s just the reality.

So, you need to come to us if you have a loved one in intensive care and you’re facing those challenges, and we can help you to advocate for your loved one and ask the right questions and hold the intensive care team accountable for doing the right things and not just manage beds and staff.

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].

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 there, 24 hours a day.

If you need a medical record review for your loved one in intensive care or after intensive care, please contact us as well. Please also contact us if the ICU doesn’t give you access to medical records, we can help you with that. We never had a client who doesn’t get access to medical records. Again, without consulting and advocacy, we know the secrets in ICU, we know how to work around obstacles.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, share the video with your friends and families, click the like button, click the notification bell, 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.