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

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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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