Quick tip for families in ICU: My wife's in ICU with cardiac arrest&trachea, can I make decisions?

https://intensivecarehotline.com/blog/quick-tip-for-families-in-icu-my-wifes-in-icu-with-cardiac-arrest-tracheostomy-can-i-make-decisions/

Quick tip for families in Intensive care: My wife is in ICU with cardiac arrest, tracheostomy, can I make decisions?

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

So, this morning, I had an inquiry from a subscriber who actually called me, and he said, “Look, I’ve got my wife in intensive care for 40 days. She has had an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and she possibly sustained a hypoxic brain injury. She now has a tracheostomy. The Glasgow Coma Scale is around 10.” And even though, he says, he’s not the medical power of attorney because there is no paperwork in place, the ICU team asked him to sign a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). And the ICU asked him to consent to medical procedures, such as tracheostomy, PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy), and so forth. He also asked for access to medical records, and he can’t get it because the ICU is telling him he’s not the medical power of attorney.

The first question that I had to my subscriber is, how come you are allowed to give consent to potentially risky procedures, such as tracheostomy and PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy)? How come you are able to consent to what could potentially cost your loved one’s life, i.e., a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate)? And they’re not giving you access to medical records, which means you can’t really make an informed decision when it comes to tracheostomy and PEG and also to DNR.

So, here’s another example how hospitals and ICUs are trying to walk all over families in intensive care if you’re not prepared, if you don’t ask the right questions, and if you don’t know what to do.

So, the first thing that this particular gentleman needs to do is to get the power of attorney situation sorted and he should also revoke the DNR as quickly as possible. If you can sign it, you can also revoke it.

The other challenge this client is facing is that the ICU is telling him his wife will be sent to LTAC in about three or four days. And because he’s not the medical power of attorney, it’s their decision and he can’t do anything about it. Again, how come he can sign for a DNR, and he can give consent to a tracheostomy and the PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy), but he can’t challenge the transfer to LTAC, which is opposing? Again, a very good example of how hospitals are trying to bully families in intensive care, especially if you don’t know what you don’t know. And that is exactly the biggest challenge.

Families in intensive care 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 what we can help you with here at intensivecarehotline.com.

The other funny thing is that the prospect thinks it’s coincidental. I actually don’t think it’s coincidental, all of a sudden, now that they wouldn’t want to move her to LTAC. For the first day in 40 days, she had time off the ventilator for about five hours. Makes you wonder whether that’s just coincidental or whether it’s been timed by the ICU to push for the LTAC discharge.

Again, you need to have someone on your side, on your team, that can interpret clinical information, that can ask all the right questions, that can interpret medical records, that can talk to the doctors and nurses. Ask all the right questions that is critical for you.

So that is my quick tip for today.

I hope that helps and you get the message.

If you have a loved one in intensive care, go to our website intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of the website or send us an email to [email protected].

Also, have a look at our membership for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org.

Continuation...
https://intensivecarehotline.com/blog/quick-tip-for-families-in-icu-my-wifes-in-icu-with-cardiac-arrest-tracheostomy-can-i-make-decisions/