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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.
So, today’s question comes from Mariah who says,
“Hi Patrik,
I’m being asked to move my father to an LTAC or long-term care facility with an ICU because we are only Day 6 of intubation and he’s making progress in him weaning off the ventilator. What would you advise?”
Well, thank you so much Mariah for sending this through.
So, obviously, this is a question that is uniquely for our U.S. audience because LTACs really only exist in the U.S. They don’t exist in any other English-speaking countries. So, let me explain why Mariah is asking that question. She’s probably watched a number of my other videos or read my other blog posts where I talk about not to go to LTAC. Certainly not prematurely and I would advise never to go to LTAC full stop.
So, in the U.S, specifically, many patients end up with a tracheostomy and a PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) prematurely, and in order for the ICU to send them to LTAC, LTAC stands for long term acute care facility, but it is not designed for clinical care. It is really designed to save money.
So, what Mariah is referring to here is she’s already getting pressure at Day 6 to move to an LTAC. However, it’s only Day 6 and her dad is making progress in weaning off the ventilator. Well, that’s what they should be focusing on. They shouldn’t be talking about LTAC.
The number one question that you should be asking in a situation like that is, how will they wean your loved one off the ventilator and the breathing tube? How will they do that? Will they do it so they can show you that they are doing it beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Now, how can you work out if they are weaning your loved one off the ventilator beyond the shadow of a doubt? Well, I’ve written a blog post and made a video about, “How to wean a critically ill patient off the ventilator and the breathing tube?” and I’ll link towards that blog post and video below this video in the written version of this blog. So, you can check out the blog post for yourself.
But the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care, and that is exactly what Mariah is dealing with here. At least she has some understanding that LTAC is not a good idea.
The goal for anyone on a ventilator should always be to get them off the ventilator and the breathing tube as quickly as possible. If they’re already putting pressure on you and start talking about LTAC instead of talking about how to wean your dad off the ventilator and the breathing tube, that is a red flag big time. So, you’re on the right track, asking the right questions.
But the best thing to do in a situation like that is clearly getting a second opinion, getting consulting, getting advocacy because that’s what we do. That’s what we live and breathe here at intensivecarehotline.com. We are advocating for your dad or for your loved one in ICU, and we’ve done so successfully since 2013.
You can look up our testimonials at intensivecarehotline.com or you can watch some of our client interviews on our podcast section. It is no exaggeration when I’m saying we have saved many lives over the years with our consulting and advocacy changing the trajectory in a positive way for our clients and their families. Like I said, we have saved many lives. I can say that without the slightest hint of exaggeration here.
That’s also why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients so that we can help more and more families in intensive care, and you can get access and become a member in our membership if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link or 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 access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that only our members have access to, and those e-books have been written by myself and the videos have been recorded by myself and those videos and e-books will help you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.
I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly. Once again, 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 have worked in critical care for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I also worked as a nurse manager for over five years in intensive care. I have been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care all around the world since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. Once again, check out our testimonial section and check out our podcast for client interviews. I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.
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 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 send us an email to [email protected] with your comments and 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, share the video with your friends and families.
I also do a weekly YouTube live where you can ask questions on the live show and subscribe to my YouTube channel so that you get notification when I do those YouTube lives.
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.