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

Today’s tip is about what one of our readers said that, “The ICU doctors are pushing us to take away treatment for my husband that is keeping him alive.” This is the situation we encounter almost daily from inquiries all around the world.

Now, what do you have to say to that? What do you have to do to that?

Well, (a) do not get pushed into agreeing to a withdrawal of treatment because that would lead to the very death of your loved one.

Next, you have rights. As I keep saying over and over again, 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 is the very challenge that you’re facing here.

You don’t know what to do next. You don’t know your rights. You don’t know potentially about treatment options. You did say that your husband has been in intensive care with a severe pneumonia. And now he’s being ventilated, on high FiO2s (fraction of inspired oxygen), and high PEEPs (positive end-expiratory pressure). He’s getting antibiotics, but he’s not getting better. And he’s still in an induced coma and now they want to stop treatment.

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen this situation. And what you need in a situation like that is (a) exercise your rights, and (b) get professional help, because we can give you a second opinion. Look at medical records, and talk to the doctors and the nurses, that’s what you will need in a situation like that. Educate yourself, that is really, really important.

So, reach out to us if you are in a similar situation. We can show you the tools. We can help you advocate because we are the experts on patient and family advocacy and patient family rights in intensive care. That’s what we specialize in.

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 send us an email to [email protected]. You will also find the numbers below this video if you’re watching this on YouTube.

Like this video, comment below what you want to see next, and subscribe to my YouTube channel  for updates for families in intensive care, share this video with your friends and families, and click the notification bell.

If you want a medical record review, click on the link for medical record review.

And also, check out our membership, intensivecaresupport.org for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You will find our membership at intensivecaresupport.org.

Thanks for watching.

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

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