My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, where we instantly improve the lives for families of critically ill patients in intensive care so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one always gets the best care and treatment, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in intensive care.

Today I have a question from one of our members, Tom, who says,

“Hi Patrik,

I have sent you a picture with handwritten information about my mom’s latest pathology and x-ray result. This is Tuesday night, the 17th. The ICU has informed me they intend to remove my mom’s breathing tube and disconnect her from the ventilator to let her die, even though she’s alert, awake, and can communicate. Hopefully I can get a court injunction, please help.

From Tom.”

Thank you, Tom, for sharing this very unfortunate situation, and unfortunately this is another shocking and sadly common situation that we see all the time for our families in intensive care all around the world. The ICU wants to prematurely and unnecessarily withdraw life support even though your loved one, your mom, is awake, alert, and communicating. That is completely unacceptable, unethical. It’s shameless. It is unbelievable, but the good news is we will turn it around because we have done so many times in these situations.

If your mom is awake and interactive, removing life support would be equivalent to euthanasia or potentially even murder. And it’s your absolute right to refuse consent. Families must remember the ICU cannot withdraw treatment without your consent. What you haven’t written in your email is that they’ve probably told you that if your mom does survive, she won’t have any quality of life, which is probably not true, and nothing that can be predicted by ICU teams anyway.

In situations like this, a court injunction may indeed be necessary to stop the ICU from proceeding. We’ve been involved in many similar cases here at intensivecarehotline.com where families were told their loved one had no hope, but with our advocacy, education, and intervention and inside knowledge about intensive care in general, we’ve saved countless lives, kept patients alive who are now either in care, need care, rehabilitation, but even back home or even live normal lives, so don’t let ICU predict the future because they don’t know the future. The only way they can predict the future is if they’re going to kill people. That’s the only way they can predict the future, letting people die.

The bottom line is, it’s very unethical and ICU is very poor at predicting the future, especially since the odds are in your mom’s favor. 70 to 90% of ICU patients survive, so that means the odds are in your mom’s favor. Never forget that.

Tom, the next immediate step is to get access to all of your mom’s medical records, including ventilator settings, arterial blood gases, chest x-ray, all doctor’s notes, progress notes, nursing notes, all the notes, there can’t be anything hidden from you. Because only then can we understand the full clinical picture and challenge any false claims the ICU team is making about your mom’s prognosis. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve found that ICU teams have not been transparent about ventilator settings, have not been transparent about medications a critically ill patient is on. You need to question everything and you need to leave no stone unturned.

Only then can you make informed decisions, only then can you challenge the ICU team. ICU teams are very good at pretending that they can do whatever they want until you challenge that. That’s the situation you are finding yourself in, you need to challenge it and you will succeed in the end, we have turned so many situations around without needing a court injunction, just by reminding them that you may get a court injunction is often enough to get them off the back burner, but the reality also is this tactic they’re using is working because most families do not question. They just let their loved ones die in front of their very eyes, and they don’t question. That’s also a reality.

Tom, you also need to consider a tracheostomy as an option instead of letting your mom die and removing the breathing tube. A tracheostomy can stabilize the airway and make ventilation much more comfortable and safe long-term. It’s often the logical next step for patients like your mom, who are awake but can’t yet come off the ventilator. Also, if your mom is awake, let the ICU team ask your mom what she wants. It’s very cowardice of the ICU team not to communicate to your mom and ask her for her wishes. I’m sure she wouldn’t tell them that she wants to die.

This is almost unbelievable what you are going through, Tom, but we’re here to help you every step of the way and get results and turn this situation around for you. Once the tracheostomy is done and she’s medically stable, she can look at safe discharge home with our specialized Intensive Care at Home nursing service, and you can find more information at intensivecareathome.com. With Intensive Care at Home, we provide 24/7 intensive care nursing at home with ICU and critical care nurses, following the evidence-based Mechanical Home Ventilation Guidelines, which you can find on our website at intensivecareathome.com, giving patients a much better quality of life and keeping them out of ICU safely and permanently. And also treating you and your family with much respect and dignity, helping you to get back on track and not cutting life short.

Tom and anyone else in a similar situation, don’t give in to ICU pressure, don’t give up when they say there’s nothing more we can do, there’s a lot they can do, they just don’t want to. They want to take the easy way out, they want to decide who lives and dies, but the good news is there’s always more that can be done. The good news is we have proven paths here, especially when your loved one is awake and interactive. Contact us now at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send us an email to [email protected]. Let’s make sure you regain control, protect your mom’s life and explore all the right options, including a tracheostomy and homecare with Intensive Care at Home.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in 3 different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. And I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. And I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy, because of our insights, and you can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com and you can verify it on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews.

And because our advice is absolutely life-changing. 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 why we help you to improve your life instantly, making sure you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets the best care and treatment always. And that’s why you can join a growing number of members and clients that we have helped over the years, saving their loved ones’ lives.

And that’s why I do one on one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. And I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once-in-a-lifetime situation that you simply cannot afford to get wrong. And when I talk to families directly, I also talk to doctors and nurses directly, asking all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care. I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real-time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care, in case you have unanswered questions, if you need closure or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com. If you click on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, 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. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that I’ve personally written and recorded. And all of that will help you to improve your life instantly, make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment, always. And all of that you get 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] with your questions.

And if you like my videos, 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 you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on a show and you will get notification from the YouTube Live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel or if you are a subscriber to my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

Thank you so much for watching.

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

Take care.

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