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

So, yesterday we had an email from a reader from Bob who says, “My mom has been in intensive care and she’s breathing on pressure support/ CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) with a breathing tube. What do I need to do to get her off the ventilator and breathing tube?” Great question, Bob. There are a few boxes your mom needs to tick. Ideally, she needs to breathe on the pressure support/ CPAP for a few hours, at least 12 to 24 hours, I’d say. Depends how long she’s been on the ventilator, for you haven’t shared that. Her arterial blood gases need to be within normal range. Her pressure support needs to be less than 10. Generally speaking, PEEP (positive end expiratory pressure) needs to be less than 7. Her breathing rate per minute should be between 12 to 30 breaths per minute. She needs to breathe calmly. She needs to have minimal secretions from the breathing tube so she can clear her own airway. She needs to have a good, strong cough. Her tidal volumes, the volume she’s breathing, should be between 7 to 10 mls per kilo roughly. And she needs to be able to follow commands like squeeze your hands and wiggle her toes, poke out her tongue, have a good, strong cough. She can clear her own airway and she needs those minimal secretions. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.

And then hopefully she can get mobilized if for whatever reason she’s struggling after she has the breathing tube removed, also known as extubation. She might need a little bit of CPAP or BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) with a mask or a high flow nasal prong. Or she can just breathe with a nasal cannula, and then hopefully she can breathe without oxygen. You haven’t actually shared why your mom went into ICU. But generally speaking, that is what should be happening.

I have broken this down even further in another video where I really walk you through step by step how to wean someone off a breathing tube and the ventilator, and I’ll put a link below this video.

Now, if you have a loved one in intensive care, go to intensivecarehotline.com and 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, and we answer all questions intensive care, as well as Intensive Care at Home related.

We also provide medical record reviews for your loved one in intensive care, while they are in intensive care. You need to help us with access to the medical records. But if you have access to the medical records, we can review them in real time. And we also review medical records after Intensive care especially if you’re suspecting medical negligence.

Now, like the video, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care and Intensive Care at Home. Share the video with your friends and families, click the notification bell, and comment below what you want to see next, and what questions and insights you have from this video. Leave your comments.

Thanks for watching.

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