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Today's article is about, “Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: No Brain Activity in ICU. Should You Take Your Loved One Off Life Support?”

You may also watch the video here on our website https://intensivecarehotline.com/ventilation/quick-tip-for-families-in-intensive-care-no-brain-activity-in-icu-should-you-take-your-loved-one-off-life-support/ or you can continue reading the article below.

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: No Brain Activity in ICU. Should You Take Your Loved One Off Life Support?

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, where we instantly improve the lives of 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.

In today’s video update, I have a question from Sharina, who was one of our clients, and she says:

“Hi, Patrik.

My brother is in ICU, and the neurologist is saying he had no brain activity.

So, the ICU doctor is giving us 24 hours to take him off life support. Do we have to take him off life support? Can we keep him on it?

Sharina”

Sharina, this is a question I get all the time from families in intensive care.

First of all. No, you do not have to take your brother off life support just because the ICU team or neurologist is telling you to. You and your family have the right to say no and can ask for more time, more tests, more treatment, and of course a second opinion.

Also, what you need to do in a situation like this is, you need to get access to the medical records right now. So that you can actually verify that everything they are telling you is true because we can help you with that by reviewing medical records and talking to doctors and nurses directly.

In many cases, I have seen families thought their loved one has no brain activity or a poor prognosis. Yet those patients went on to recover, sometimes weeks or even months later. The hospital might be pushing for withdrawal of life support or withdrawal of treatment because they believe there is no hope. 

What they often don’t tell you is that they may also be trying to free up an ICU bed or reduce costs.

So here is what you should do next. Ask for a second independent neurological opinion, preferably imaging such as CT (Computed Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), and EEG (Electroencephalograph), repeated by another neurologist. Request access to all medical records, so that you can see all test results are provided in writing and reviewed by an independent specialist.

Ask if your brother has a tracheostomy option. A tracheostomy can help your brother stay on the ventilator long term and allow time for recovery, especially if there is uncertainty about his neurological status.

Once your brother is stable with a tracheostomy, he may be able to be transferred out of ICU to home care with our service at Intensive Care at Home. You can find more information at intensivecareathome.com, where we provide 24/7 intensive care nurses with CCRNs that can provide ongoing ventilation and tracheostomy care and management in the comfort of your own home, bringing the ICU into your home, if that is needed.

Next, do not rush into any withdrawal treatment decisions, because it’s a decision you cannot take back, especially when you are under pressure. If the ICU is pushing a 24-hour deadline, just ignore it. You have every right to slow things down and advocate for your brother’s life. Do not work with artificial timelines imposed by someone else. Also, don’t let someone’s opinion about the situation become your reality.

Just because the ICU team has the opinion that you should withdraw treatment the next 24hour, or you should make a decision, do not let that become your reality. Also, think about whether this is a real or a perceived end-of-life situation. What’s the difference. I’m glad you’ve asked.

A real end-of-life situation is a situation is where your loved one will die in ICU in the next few hours or days no matter of treatment offered, medication given, surgery or no surgery, any lifesaving equipment, any lifesaving medications. Nothing can save your brother from dying, that’s the real end of life situation.

A perceived end-of-life situation on the other hand, is a situation where there is a perception that your brother might dying soon, and if you agree to it, if you stop treatment, that’s what probably going to happen. So, it’s really up to you to stop them from doing, because a perceive end of life situation is just that.

So, what should you doing next.

I have seen wat to many situation patients labeled as “brain dead”, “no brain activity,” or brain damage, eventually started to respond, open their eyes, breathe on their own or show brain wave recovery once given time and proper support. I also have seen us successfully negotiate more time and more treatment. Once you have someone on your team that understands intensive care inside out, you will see that the dynamics change in your favor.

I also urge you to look at the hospital’s end-of-life care policy and withdrawal treatment policies. You will actually find that in the policy it’s documented that they can’t stop or withdraw treatment without your consent.

And lastly, I strongly encourage you to make decisions today that you do not regret in 12 months’ time.

So, what does that mean? If you decide to stop treatment today, you must be 100% on board with that. And you must have no regrets. Probably right now, you’re under a lot of stress, you’re running on adrenaline, and that’s not a good time to make life or death decisions because that’s what it is. It is a life-or-death decision. Don’t do that. Give yourself all that, give your brother all the time in the world. And then make an informed decision. Informed decisions so that you have actually peace of mind.

So if you need urgent help negotiating with the ICU team, understanding the medical jargon and creating a care plan that keeps your brother alive, go to intensivecarehotline.com and call me now on one  of the numbers on the top of our website or send me an email to support@intensivecarehotline.com  and schedule a confidential one on one consultation from there because we help you to stop the ICU from pressuring you into withdrawing life support, get second opinions and alternative treatment plans, and we explore tracheostomy and transfer home options with Intensive Care at Home.

This is your brother’s life. Don’t let the ICU make irreversible decisions on your behalf.

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

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 best care and treatment always. 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.

That’s why I do one on one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. 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. 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 if 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 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded. 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.

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 support@intensivecarehotline.com with your questions.

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 the show. You will get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel or 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 for now.

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