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 was talking to a client who has their 69-year-old mom in ICU with liver cancer and has been in ICU for a good three months. Has a tracheostomy, is still fully ventilator-dependent, but had time off the ventilator last month, but bounced back because of a ventilator-associated pneumonia. Now, issues that his mom is facing is she’s not moving forward. She says she wants to be taken home. She’s fully compos mentis. She can write on a piece of paper what she wants so she can actually easily communicate which is very unusual for many patients in ICU.

So, what is the next step for her? Well, she wants to go home. She needs to be weaned off the ventilator, but she’s not getting mobilized at all. They’ve been leaving this lady in bed, and the client needs to push for physical therapy. And the other concern that we have is he sent us some pictures of the tracheostomy and the connector to the ventilator, and it looks like the connector that’s attached to the suction system and the tracheostomy hasn’t been changed for weeks. It looks dirty, it looks dirt-stained and it’s an infection waiting to happen. It looks like the tracheostomy hasn’t been cleaned for weeks and it’s an infection waiting to happen.

On top of that, she has a pressure sore stage 3 that needs urgent attention where we think it needs to be referred to a wound care nurse so it can be treated with the appropriate wound care products. This lady is in a step-down ICU and in a step-down ICU, they should know how to manage a tracheostomy. They should know how to manage wounds.

So, it looks really gross what’s happening around the tracheostomy in particular. And it looks really gross in terms of that the tracheostomy hasn’t been cleaned for days, potentially weeks, and that the connectors haven’t been changed. Again, that’s all sources of infection. And given that a tracheostomy is unstable and an open airway, it needs attention at least three times daily with dressing changes, with sterile dressing changes.

Then again, mobilization is key. If this lady was able to come off the ventilator last month for a few days and then bounced back and she managed that without mobilization, imagine what this lady can do with mobilization. She can come off the ventilator once she’s starting to get mobilized.

And if she wants to go home, of course, there’s an option like Intensive Care at Home and check out intensivecareathome.com. We are servicing clients in Australia, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and you could contact us here at intensivecareathome.com.

That’s my quick tip for today.

Now, 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].

Also, have a look at our membership for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org. There, you have access to me and my team and you can ask questions about intensive care or Intensive Care at Home.

Now, if you need a medical record review while your loved one is in intensive care or after intensive care, especially if you suspect medical negligence, you should contact us as well.

And, subscribe to my YouTube channel, share the video with your friends and families, give the video a thumbs up, a like, 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.