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.

Today’s tip is about, “What is actually considered life support in intensive care?” So, life support in intensive care is considered anything that’s related to mechanical ventilation. If someone is ventilated with a breathing tube with a tracheostomy or is ventilated on BIPAP or CPAP with a mask, that’s considered life support. Inotropes or vasopressors are considered life support. They’re often being used to maintain a blood pressure that’s compatible with life for low blood pressure in particular.

Other life support is simply nutrition, such as the nasogastric tube or PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) tube, dialysis, hemofiltration, ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, but also antibiotics. Any medication that cures diseases is also considered life support .  So, there’s actually a whole variety that is considered life support.

But I just wanted to focus on the most important ones today in intensive care because it is a question we get quite frequently. I could go much deeper into what actually happens when someone is on life support, but I have done so in many other videos.

If you have a loved one in intensive care on life support, you should contact us. Please contact us at intensivecarehotline.com. 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, in a membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related.

If you need a medical record review, please contact us as well. We provide medical record reviews for patients in intensive care in real-time. And we also provide medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you’re suspecting medical negligence.

Now, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, share the video with your friends and families, click the like button, click the notification bell, and comment below what you want to see next, or what questions and insights you have from this video.

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care.