Can My Sister Come Home From ICU on a Ventilator with Tracheostomy? Long Term ICU Care at Home

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23 days ago
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Podcasts Health & Fitness Intensive Care at Home intensivecareathome.com Intensive Care ICU Critical Care Critical Condition Critical illness Mechanical Ventilation Patient and family consulting and advocacy in intensive care

Can My Sister Come Home From ICU on a Ventilator With a Tracheostomy? YES — Here’s How to Bring Her Home Safely With Intensive Care at Home

In this video, Patrik Hutzel from IntensiveCareAtHome.com answers Elizabeth’s urgent question: “Can my sister come home from ICU even though she’s ventilator-dependent with a tracheostomy?”

The short answer: YES — long-term ICU level care absolutely CAN be provided at home with 24/7 critical care nurses. And in most cases, patients recover faster, experience fewer infections, avoid ICU delirium, and have a dramatically improved quality of life.

Patrik explains:

⭐ What ICU teams really mean by “long-term ICU care”

— Ongoing ventilation, tracheostomy management, and close monitoring
— ALL of which can be done at home by ICU-trained nurses

⭐ Why home ICU care is safer and more effective

✔ Lower infection rates
✔ Faster recovery
✔ Better sleep & less anxiety
✔ Family present 24/7
✔ HALF the cost of an ICU bed
✔ Prevents “warehousing” of stable patients

⭐ How tracheostomy collar trials should begin

— What to ask the ICU team
— Why delays are unacceptable
— How to track progress to prepare for discharge

⭐ Exact steps to take your loved one home

✔ Get access to medical records
✔ Demand a meeting with the ICU doctor
✔ Start ventilation weaning plans
✔ Contact Intensive Care at Home to develop a customized discharge + home ventilation plan
✔ Set up equipment, nursing, protocols, emergency planning & follow-up care

Patrik also breaks down:
• How ventilator weaning works at home
• How mobilization improves recovery
• What ICU-level home nursing includes
• What to say when hospitals push back
• How funding works (insurance, NDIS, Medicaid Waivers, etc.)
• Why stable ventilated patients should NOT stay in ICU any longer than necessary

If your loved one is ventilator-dependent with a tracheostomy and you want them home instead of stuck in ICU, this video will show you exactly how to make it happen safely.

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