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, we get asked a lot when to stop BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) in ICU? And I probably need to make a distinction here that there are two forms of BiPAP in ICU. One, is for a patient with a BiPAP mask and another form of BiPAP can be via a tracheostomy most of the time. So when should you stop BiPAP?

Well, quite frankly, when FIO2 (fraction of inspired oxygen) levels are down, probably to less than 30% and when a patient can tolerate getting off the BiPAP mask or getting off the BiPAP on the tracheostomy, you can stop BiPAP. Now that can be verified by simply doing arterial blood gases making sure that PCO2 (partial pressure of carbon dioxide) is down and that PO2 (partial pressure of oxygen) are within a normal range.

When you take a patient off the BiPAP, whether that’s getting them on room air, just breathing spontaneously, getting them on high flow nasal prongs, getting them breathed without oxygen at all, or if someone is on a tracheostomy, just let them breathe on a trach mask or on a trach collar, and if they tolerate all of that, if their respiratory rate stays normal, if their oxygen saturation stays normal, if their PCO2 is not rising,  patients are not getting confused, that’s when you can pretty much stop BiPAP.

Now, if you have a loved one in intensive care and you can’t stop BiPAP for whatever reason, whether it’s invasively or non-invasively, i.e with a mask or with a tracheostomy, you should contact Intensive Care at Home.

So, go to intensivecareathome.com, there we provide home care for long-term mechanically ventilated patients in ICU, adults and children with or without a tracheostomy. We basically send intensive care nurses into the home 24-hours a day to replicate an ICU bed at home and cut the cost of an ICU bed by around 50% and bring the intensive care into your home so you and your family can have quality of life or in some instances, quality of end of life.

At the moment, we are operating in Australia, and we are NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme), TAC (Transport Accident Commission), iCare and DVA (Department of Veteran Affairs)-funded and also get funding from hospitals directly. So you should contact us, if you are in Australia and you’re looking for Intensive Care at Home. But even if you’re not in Australia, you should contact us. We probably have some ideas for you in how we can help you with your loved one in intensive care.

If you have a loved one in intensive care, go to intensivecarehotline.com. Contact 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 related to intensive care and Intensive Care at Home.

Also, if you need a medical record review, contact us as well. We review medical records for our clients in intensive care or also after intensive care, but it’s best if we can review them live while your loved one is in intensive care. So we can help you interpret real time clinical data, give you a second opinion, give you our take on things, and help you ask the right questions to the intensive care team. Or we can ask those questions on your behalf.

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 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 intensivecareathome.com, and I’ll talk to you in a few days.