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Today’s article is about, “Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: What You Need to Do if the ICU Team is Telling You that Your Loved One is "Brain Dead" in ICU?”

You may also watch the video here on our website https://intensivecarehotline.com/blog/quick-tip-for-families-in-intensive-care-what-you-need-to-do-if-the-icu-team-is-telling-you-that-your-loved-one-is-brain-dead-in-icu/ or you can continue reading the article below.

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: What You Need to Do if the ICU Team is Telling You that Your Loved One is "Brain Dead" in ICU?

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

So, today I want to talk again about what it means to be brain dead in ICU and what it means not to be brain dead in ICU. The reason I want to bring this up is I’ve just come off the call with a client who says ICU is telling him that his 63-year-old dad after a heart attack is brain dead and they’ve been telling him for weeks. Obviously, it took him weeks to reach out to us here, which is often too late, because you need to reach out to us Day 1 when you have a loved one, critically ill in intensive care so you can get a second opinion Day 1.

Then I asked him, is his dad showing any signs of life at all? He said, “Yup, he’s opening his eyes and he’s chewing on the breathing tube.” Well, that means his dad is not brain dead, but we hear this all the time that intensive care teams are misleading families in intensive care and they’re saying that their loved ones are brain dead and that is simply a lie when no brain death testing has been done and verified by two independent doctors.

So, when you have a look online – brain death testing, we have an article on our website at intensivecarehotline.com. I will link to that below this video. When someone is brain dead, they’re not doing anything at all. They have been off sedation for days, weeks. In this case, his dad is opening his eyes and he’s chewing on the breathing tube, which means he is not brain dead. There’s no correlation between someone being brain dead and brain damaged.

Intensive care teams are trying to create a negative narrative in situations like that because they’re also trying to force him and his mom to withdraw treatment on his dad. He’s only 63, basically wanting to kill him and that is just wrong. They probably need the bed, maybe they’re losing money depending on the funding arrangements. Instead of trying to do what is right in a situation like that and helping this man to improve and have a second chance at life and hopefully recovering. Of course, nobody knows what quality of life will look like down the line. But one thing is for sure, if treatment is withdrawn then you know the outcome of that.

I have seen this so many times. I’ve worked in critical care for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I also worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care and I’ve seen it so many times. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care here at intensivecarehotline.com since 2013.

We have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy. You can verify that on our testimonial section, and you can verify it on our podcast section where we interviewed many families in intensive care. They’ve verified the outcomes that we’re helping them to get. Like I said, we’ve saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy, and we can do the same for you.

So, don’t be fooled by what intensive care teams or what some intensive care teams are telling you. I’m not blind to the fact that there are many good things happening in ICU. I worked there for nearly two and a half decades, but there’s a lot of things happening in intensive care that are not good. Those are the families that come to us here at the intensivecarehotline.com and those are the families that we help, and we help them to save their loved one’s lives and help them to make sure their loved ones get best care and treatment.

So, terminology matters big time in intensive care, but you just need to know what that terminology means, like the difference between someone being brain dead and brain damaged. That’s why you need to get a second opinion when you have a loved one in intensive care. You cannot fly blind in a situation like that. Too many families in intensive care fly blind when they have a loved one in intensive care. It is a once in a lifetime situation that you cannot afford to get wrong.

I don’t quite understand why you don’t take action when you have a loved one in intensive care. You move heaven and earth to get that second opinion, making sure that your loved one gets best care and treatment and so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

I don’t quite understand why people watch these videos and then they don’t take action, and then weeks, months, sometimes even years later, they come to us and say, “Oh, if I had only taken action when I first saw your video and I had a loved one in intensive care, my mom, my dad, my spouse would probably still be around.” Yes, you’re absolutely right. 90% of patients in intensive care actually survive. So, the odds are in your loved one’s favor, but you need to move the right levers in situations like that and you can’t just rely on what intensive care teams are telling you without doing your own research and without getting a second opinion.

It is often life or death, and you can’t just rely on your own instincts. It’s good to rely on your own instincts, and if you think they’re not doing the right things, you need help to move pieces around when you have a loved in intensive care because you need an insider who has all the intensive care knowledge and all the advocacy knowledge how to get results, that’s what we do here at intensivecarehotline.com.

That’s also why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care that you can become a member of if you go to intensivecarehotline.com if you click on the membership link or you’re going to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in a membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related.

In the membership, you also have access to exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded with all my knowledge of nearly two and a half decades in intensive care and critical care. Those e-books and videos will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, and it will help you making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment. It will help you to manage intensive care team, so they don’t manage you.

I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly. I talk to you and your families directly. When I talk to doctors and nurses directly, I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one in intensive care so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.

Also, we offer medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. I also represent you and your families in family meetings with intensive care teams. We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence.

All of that, you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send us an email to support@intensivecarehotline.com.

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, and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on the show. You get notification for the weekly YouTube live if you’re a subscriber of my YouTube channel, or if you’re a subscriber of our 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 for now.

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