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

So today’s tip is, “Why almost every ICU around the world is getting prognosis of their patients wrong.” So case in point, we’ve been working with three clients over the last nine months. I mean, we’ve been working with way more than three clients in the last nine months. But I just want to highlight three clients that we worked with where ICUs were pretty much ready to “pull the plug”, which means they were ready to withdraw treatment without family’s consent or without patient consent because they said, “well, this patient won’t survive anyway. We might as well, stop life support tomorrow.” And obviously families reached out to us and we could put a stop to that by advocating for them, by educating them about their rights.

And lo and behold, all of those three patients survive their ICU stay and are now either out of ICU even at home or are very close to leaving intensive care. So that’s why pretty much every ICU is getting the prognosis wrong. It’s the doom and gloom they want to focus on. They want to focus on the negative because they want to stay in control of the narrative.

And while we are talking about the narrative, I made a video last week “how you can control the narrative while your loved one is in ICU.” And I link towards that video below this video so you can keep educating yourself there. But the bottom line is this, if you don’t read between the lines of what ICU teams are telling you and what is actually happening,  you will stand no chance to create your own narrative.

Now what does it come down to? It comes down to having that second opinion. It comes down to talking to someone independently that understands intensive care inside out. So you can have that crucial second opinion. So you can have that look from the outside into ICU again, from someone that has worked in ICU, have worked in ICU for over 20 years in three different countries. And I have also worked as a nurse unit manager in intensive care for over five years. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care for the last 10 years.

So, you need that crucial second opinion and you need balance, and you need objectivity and not subjectivity from the ICU team who only wants to manage their downside which is, what’s their downside? And their worst case scenario is that they look after a patient in intensive care indefinitely with an uncertain outcome that is their worst case scenario.

Whereas here at intensivecarehotline.com, we break it down for you, what is actually really happening? What are your treatment options, what’s your loved one’s treatment options? Intensive care teams only tell you half of the story unless you know what to ask for. Which brings me to once again, that 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’s exactly what is happening when families in intensive care believe everything the intensive care team is telling them, especially when it comes to prognosis and diagnosis. So question everything. Reach out to us here at intensivecarehotline.com.

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 simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

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 the membership area and via email. And we answer all questions intensive care related 24 hours a day.

If you need a medical record review, please contact us as well. We review medical records in ICU for patients in ICU, as well as after ICU, but we highly recommend that you get the medical records and we can review them in real time so you can actually have that, again, that critical second opinion.

Now, like the video, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what questions and insights you have from this video. Whether you agree or disagree, I want to know your opinions as well.

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care.