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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.
Today, I have an email from Corey who says,
“Hi Patrik,
If a doctor calls you to tell you that your brother is critically ill, does that mean he’s going to die?” Great question, Corey, and I’m glad you asked it.
The biggest challenge for families in intensive care is always 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. Once again, that is exactly what you’re up against.
When someone is new to critical care, of course, they’re asking all sorts of questions and when they walk into an ICU, and I’ve also seen many family members collapse when they first walk into an ICU, they just can’t handle it because it is such an overwhelming and also traumatic environment.
In any case, what intensive care teams don’t tell families in intensive care is that approximately 90% of intensive care patients survive. So, that means 90% of patients that go into intensive care, out of 100% survive their stay in intensive care.
Now, we’re not talking about here, what quality of life looks like after they get discharged from intensive care alive. We don’t know what their life looks like 6 weeks down the line, 6 months down the line, potentially 6 years down the line. Who knows? It’s not a one size fits all.
But when your loved one goes into intensive care, you should have every reason to be optimistic because there’s also a lot of good things happening in intensive care. A lot of patients survive and leave intensive care alive.
So, it is really important that you understand the ins and outs of intensive care, which 99.9% of families don’t understand. You’re here now to get a crash course at intensivecarehotline.com because you got to learn fast when you have a loved one in intensive care so that your loved one gets best care and treatment so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.
So, your question is a very broad one. However, I know a lot of families in intensive care asked that very question, maybe not publicly. They probably ask it to themselves, not really understanding what the odds are, what treatment options there are. They’re absolutely flying blind when they have a loved one, critically ill in intensive care and there’s no need for it. No need for you to fly blind cause you get all the help you need here at intensivecarehotline.com.
Now, I have worked in critical care for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I also worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years. We’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013.
I can very confidently say here that we have saved many lives in intensive care with our consulting and advocacy. You can verify that on our testimonial section or on our podcast section where we have done client interviews.
So, going into intensive care or into critical care is absolutely not a death sentence, assuming intensive care teams are doing the right things and give your loved one, in your case, your brother, enough time to recover and they’re giving your brother all the right care and treatment.
Even when someone is going on a ventilator in an induced coma, even that, still the same chances 90% of patients in critical care approximately survive whilst it can be a shock for families when they see their loved one on a breathing tube in an induced coma, potentially having a tracheostomy, can be very daunting, very overwhelming, very frightening but it’s a case of you doing your own research. It’s a case of you asking the right questions. It’s a case of you holding intensive care teams accountable for their actions.
Because when you have a loved one in intensive care with a critical illness, you can’t afford to get it wrong because it’s a once in a lifetime situation that you cannot afford to get wrong. That’s why we help you here at Intensive Care Hotline, we handhold you through the process when you have a loved one in intensive care. We help you to ask the right questions. We help you by reviewing medical records. For example, we help you by talking to doctors and nurses directly and asking the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one, critically ill in intensive care.
Now, because we do get so many questions for families from families in intensive care all around the world, that’s why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com and 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 a 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 I have personally written and recorded, sharing all my experience in intensive care. Making sure that you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence. Once again, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.
I also do 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 handhold you through the process, making sure you stay two steps ahead of the intensive care team so that you can manage them, and they don’t manage you. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly and 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 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 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 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 the video with your friends and families, 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 the show. You get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel or if you are a subscriber to our email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.
If you want to make a small donation, click the super chat button and I will get to your video very quickly because I’ve got a big backlog of emails that I’m going to answer here on my videos, they are months behind. I think this email was from March this year, we are now at the end of June. So, if you want to have a quick video done, just make a small donation and I will get to it the next day.
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.