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

So currently we are working with a client that has their 38-year old sister in ICU with COVID ARDS/pneumonia. The client’s been in ICU for about eight days now. She’s on a hundred percent of oxygen, is on vasopressors, so pretty much on maximum life supports, even though the kidneys are still working and liver is working, brain is intact and so forth. However, the treatment for ARDS and for the COVID so far hasn’t worked, they’ve tried prone position, and that hasn’t worked. So she’s paralyzed and on sedation.

Now, as I keep saying over and over again, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is 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.

So what’s happening in this situation basically, the ICU is telling the family that there is no hope that their loved one won’t survive and that the only option is end-of-life.

Now, again, with keeping in mind that you don’t know what you don’t know, when we got on the call with the doctor, finally had the opportunity to ask questions about treatment options. For example, ECMO, for example, Epoprostenol, for example, nitric oxide, for example, Sildenafil, also known as Viagra and none of these treatment options has been tried at all, a referral to another hospital hasn’t been made for ECMO. Well, of course their loved one is going to die if not all options are tried and maximized.

So, when you have a loved one in intensive care, you can’t be seeking help quick enough. And as I keep saying over and over again, after I have worked in intensive care for over 20 years, the ICU team is only telling you half of the story and if you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t get a better outcome. And critically ill patients often pass away because you’re not asking the right questions and you’re not seeking professional help and a second opinion quick enough.

That’s my tip for today. If you have a loved one in intensive care, give us a call on one of the numbers on the top of our website at intensivecarehotline.com. Like this video, comment down below what questions you have, and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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