Intensive Care Hotline

is instantly improving the lives for Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that they can make informed decisions, have PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence and therefore stay in control of their Family's and their critically ill loved one's destiny

Contact Intensive Care Hotline
24/7 Phone Access
Need Instant Help? Call Now or... Make an Appointment

YOUR INTENSIVE CARE HOTLINE - Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Why is There No Clinical Support in LTAC?

/ Patrik Hutzel - Critical Care Nurse Consultant / No Comments

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Why is There No Clinical Support in LTAC?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

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

So yesterday, I had an email from a subscriber who says that their loved one is in LTAC and the LTAC provides no clinical guidance, clinical support, or clinical evidence from the pulmonary doctor, from the respiratory therapist, or from the nurses there. The subscriber also said that the LTAC provides no emotional support, no breathing exercises, and no weaning support.

So, if you’re new to my blog here at intensivecarehotline.com, you may be wondering what am I talking about? Well, for anyone that’s looked at our information or at our blogs, videos for any length of time would know, that we strictly advise against LTAC.

LTAC stands for Long-Term Acute Care and this is mainly relevant for our subscribers and viewers in the United States. LTACs, generally speaking, don’t exist in Australia and New Zealand, or the UK. Patients there, actually stay in ICU if they need long-term ventilation and if they need to be weaned off the ventilator. And this distinction is very important and I come to that in a second.

So when someone is critically ill in intensive care with a ventilator & tracheostomy, and they need long-term ventilation or long-term weaning off the ventilator, they should not go to LTAC. And this is exactly what the subscriber is hinting towards, that LTAC is simply not in a position to provide the support and expertise needed for someone to be weaned off the ventilator.

And this is what I’ve seen over and over again, after all these many years that I’ve worked in intensive care and that I’ve been consulting families in intensive care and in LTAC. LTACs are simply designed to save money. They’re not designed for clinical needs.

Intensive care units, on the other hand, are designed for clinical needs. They have the resources, the expertise, and the skills. They have intensive care doctors, intensive care nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, to wean someone off the ventilator.

And not let them go to LTAC in the first place. Again, LTAC doesn’t have intensive care nurses, doesn’t have intensive care doctors, and has skeleton staff with no skills to wean patients off the ventilator and tracheostomy successfully. And we’ve done countless of videos and blog posts around this. We’ve done interviews on podcasts with families who had loved ones in LTAC.

We’ve also done interviews with families where we helped their loved ones to stay in intensive care, where we successfully advocated for them, rather than the loved ones going to LTAC, literally going into the abyss because that’s what LTAC really is. It’s sending patients on ventilation with tracheostomy into the abyss, and there is plenty of evidence for that.

Now, another alternative for long-term ventilated patients is simply Intensive Care at Home. So you can check out intensivecareathome.com, for a genuine alternative for somebody that needs long-term ventilation and tracheostomy, is simply home with intensive care nursing support and intensive care nursing expertise to look after ventilated patients and tracheostomy patients at home.

So this is my tip for today. If you have a loved one in intensive care or in LTAC, check out intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website, or send me an email to [email protected].

Subscribe to my YouTube channel, like this video and comment below what you want to see next and what questions that you have. Take care for now.

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

 

BOOK YOUR FREE 15-MINUTE CONSULTATION NOW!

Related Articles:

The cold harsh truth about intensive care that families in ICU need to know! Default ThumbnailQuick Tip for Families in ICU: Is ICP & Tracheostomy Needed After Subarachnoid Haemorrhage in ICU? Default ThumbnailQuick Tip for Families in ICU: What Are the Right Steps When Weaning Off Ventilation & Tracheostomy? Default ThumbnailQuick Tip for Families in ICU: You Were Absolutely Right, LTAC is a Complete Waste of Time After ICU! Default ThumbnailQuick Tip for Families in ICU: How to Avoid Euthanasia in ICU After Tracheostomy!