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

Now, a few days ago, I made a video about a 74-year-old lady that’s in LTAC after a heart attack and cardiac arrest, and she was on 80% of FiO2 (Fraction of Inspired Oxygen) and her saturation was very low. And I was talking to the nurse, I had the family on the phone and the nurse that has looked after this lady and the nurse had no idea what was happening when I asked her some relevant clinical questions about arterial blood gases, for example. Now, bear in mind, this lady was on 80% of FiO2 on the ventilator. Room air, the air that you and I are breathing, is 21% and this lady required 80% and her oxygen saturation was very low, and she was not sedated at this particular point in time. And as I alluded to in my other video, someone on 80% of FiO2, most of the time, needs to be sedated to preserve other organs and to preserve oxygen consumption for the most vital organs.

Now, what I explained to the family at that time is that this lady needs to go back to ICU as quickly as possible, especially since there was no doctor on-site in the LTAC (Long-term Acute Care). Now, I’ve made countless videos and countless case studies about why patients from ICU should not go into LTAC. And again, this is specifically for our U.S. audience, LTACs are very specific to the United States. So, I’ve given countless examples. And this just on the lines again, that LTAC is simply dangerous because this lady basically, within less than 24 hours after we’ve spoken to the nurse, passed away at the LTAC without being seen by a doctor, without being seen by an ICU, which is where she should have gone back to.

Now, why am I saying all of this? Again, I’ve made countless of other videos that in LTAC, you have no ICU nurses, patients are going from ICU to another facility. That’s madness in and of itself. That’s insanity that a patient that is at its most vulnerable state is changing facilities, changing teams, going from ICU nurses to facilities where there are no ICU nurses, no doctors on-site. The nurse-to-patient ratio often goes from one-to-one or one-to-two in ICU to one-to- four, one-to-five, sometimes one-to-ten overnight. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. You just need to look up the LTACs online, the online reviews and it’ll tell you everything that you need to know.

As I always say, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply 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’s exactly where I can help you with.

So, for example, our client said, “Well, if we had only found you two or three weeks ago, we could have stopped this lady from going to LTAC.” Absolutely 100%. We’ve helped countless families in intensive care to stop going to LTAC with the right strategies, with the right advocacy.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

Now, if you have a loved one in intensive care and you want to stop your loved one going to LTAC, please contact us at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or below this YouTube video, or simply send us an email to [email protected].

Also, have a look at our membership for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org.

If you want a medical record review for your loved one after intensive care or in intensive care, you should contact us as well.

Like the video, give it a thumbs up, subscribe to my YouTube channel () for regular updates for families in intensive care, share this video with your friends and families, comment below what you want to see next or what questions you have, and click the notification bell.

Thank you for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.