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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecareathome.com, where we provide tailor-made solutions for long-term ventilated adults and children with tracheostomies. And where we also provide tailor-made solutions for hospitals and intensive care units, whilst providing quality services for long-term, ventilated adults and children with tracheostomies, but also otherwise medically complex patients in the home on BIPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure), CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), Home TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition), IV fluids, IV antibiotics. We do all of that. We’re basically sending intensive care nurses and ED nurses into the home for long-term intensive care patient. It also includes palliative care and end of life care.

Now, in today’s blog, I want to answer another question from one of our readers and the reader writes, “My 37-year-old daughter has been in ICU on the ventilator for three months. They have inserted a tracheostomy and now they have taken her off the ventilator in the last couple of weeks, only giving her oxygen through the tracheostomy tube in her throat. My biggest concern is she is not waking up and can she go home? I am getting very sick of being in ICU with my daughter. It’s been over three months now and I simply don’t have any quality of life and of course, neither does my daughter. No one has any quality of life in this. And I want her at home as quickly as possible. Is this possible? We are in Brisbane, Australia.”

Now, first of all, yes, this is a very good opportunity for your daughter to go home after about three months in ICU. Now, as you’ve correctly identified, your daughter has no quality of life. She has no quality of life and she is, probably not making any progress by the sounds of things. So you therefore, need to get the wheels in motion to get her home. And I’m so glad you’ve reached out to us, especially with your daughter being so young. She will qualify for NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) funding for nursing care at home.

So, the next step really is to contact us directly, send us an email or contact us. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website. But the bottom line here is this, your daughter going home is bread and butter for us. We can set up the home for her with a tracheostomy. She will need 24-hour nursing care and she can hopefully wake up at home, because she hasn’t woken up in ICU doesn’t mean she won’t wake up and she needs the right support structure at home with 24-hour intensive care nurses to manage the tracheostomy. And also help her to wake up. She will need OTs, she will need physiotherapist, she will need the team to help her improve her quality of life at home and let her wake up at home.

And she will probably wake up in a much more conducive environment, which is the home environment. ICU is not a very conducive environment for rehabilitation or recovery. Home is a much more conducive environment for rehabilitation and recovery. And the bottom line is in order to get her home safely, your daughter will need the NDIS funding for nursing care to make that happen. And it’s also a win for the intensive care unit. If you’re watching this and you are a doctor or a nurse in intensive care, you would also know that there are multiple bed blocks in ICU or exit blocks that hinder other critically ill patients that come in to ICU.  So what we are providing is a win-win situation for everyone.

It’s a win-win situation for everyone by taking these patients home, improving their quality of life, save half of the cost of an intensive care bed and improve the quality of life for this young lady and also for the family.

So I hope that helps. Now, if you have a loved one in intensive care in a similar situation, if they have a tracheostomy ventilator, if they’re a slow wean, if your loved one had a spinal injury, God forbid or Motor Neurone Disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome, spinal muscular atrophy, cerebral palsy, you should contact us even if you’re at home already and you have insufficient support or you are having, for example, support workers or you’re working with general registered nurses, it won’t be sufficient.

When you look at the evidence and the research, patients have died at home because they didn’t have 24-hour intensive care nurses. You got to be safe in a situation like that.

So contact us if you need help. If you are an NDIS support coordinator and you’re looking for a solution for your participants for nursing care, especially when it comes to ventilation, tracheostomy, BiPAP, CPAP ventilation, Home TPN, IV fluids, IV antibiotics, that’s all bread and butter for us. We’re sending you the intensive care nurse into the home to keep intensive care beds empty, but more importantly to improve the quality of life and in some instances, quality of end of life for our clients and their families.

Now, currently we are operating all around Australia and all major capital cities including rural and regional areas. And if you’re watching this and you’re in the U.S., please contact us as well. We can help you, point you in the right direction in the U.S. as well.

In Australia, we are an NDIS, TAC (Transport Accident Commission) in Victoria, ICare and NIISQ (National Injury Insurance Scheme, Queensland) approved and DVA approved service provider in Australia. We have also received funding through departments of health in the past. So please contact us if you need help with funding and with nursing care or if you’re a hospital and you’re looking to empty your exit blocks in ICU, we can help you with the most ethical solution here. It doesn’t cost you anything but we can help you empty your ICU beds and make it a win-win situation for everyone. So also if you are a critical care nurse and you’re looking for a career change, especially if you want to use your critical care nursing skills and work in the community, please contact us.

We have jobs all around Australia, please contact us and if you are an intensive care specialist and ICU consultant and you’re looking for a career change, please contact us as well. We are currently looking to expand our medical team as well.

And so that’s about it for today.

Now, if you have a loved one in intensive care and you want to go home, contact us at intensivecareathome.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected]. That’s again, [email protected].

Also have a look at our membership for families in intensive care and Intensive Care at Home at intensivecaresupport.org. There, you have access to me and my team 24-hours a day and we answer all questions, intensive care and Intensive Care at Home related. We also provide NDIS nursing assessments. Please contact us if you need that.

We also offer medical records reviews for patients in ICU in real time. We can give you a second opinion and we also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you need closure. If you have unanswered questions or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence.

Thank you so much for watching.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care and Intensive Care at Home. 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 or what questions and insights you have from this video.

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care.