Posted on 03/20/2009 4:04:53 PM PDT by devere
It seems that there was no neurosurgeon at the local hospital, and no medical helicopter in the entire province of Quebec, so once she fell poor Natasha was doomed, even if she had asked for immediate medical assistance. It seems almost unbelievable in the 21st century, but that's what socialized medicine brings you. Death.
Excellent point.
Nobody knows but for some reason the body does ... I’ve known several people who said their time had come and simply died ...
“Don’t give me this Canadian socialized medicine crap”
I’d much rather you had it than me.
Dr. Baden has obviously not been to an emergency room lately. Maybe, because she was a "star" she would have received immediate treatment, but if she was just a regular person, no way would the CAT scan been done in a timely manner. I'm speaking from personal experience...even when life threatening conditions exist, the ER takes hours sometimes to do the tests and it's not even the ER's fault, it's logistics, the amount of people in the ER, the availability of the test equipment, etc.
I believe I read originally that she was medivac’d from the orignal hospital she was taken to, to another one in Montreal.
I guess the reporter who wrote that story assumed that was on a chopper and not in an ambulance....
“After she was stabilized, Richardson was transferred to a Montreal trauma centre by ambulance, because, unlike most provinces, Quebec has no emergency helicopter system. The trip took about one hour while a helicopter ride would have carried her to Montreal in 15 minutes.”
I’m going to guess that the first hospital had no CAT scan either. They’re far & few between in Canada
My point is that she would probably have the exact same result, no matter where it happened and no matter what kind of health care system is in place. She even turned away an ambulance after getting up. I’m fully against socialized medicine, just like most non-leftists are, but putting the full blame for what happened on just what kind of health care system is in place really doesn’t make sense in this instance.
“My point is that she would probably have the exact same result, no matter where it happened and no matter what kind of health care system is in place.”
Natasha may have died anyway, as the tragic experiences related to us here testify. But the inadequate medical system of Quebec turned a 50% chance into 99%.
You get what you pay for
Too bad she wasn’t close enough to the border-—she could have been saved.
That is until socialized medicine hits us here too.
“A closed head injury is a very difficult medical problem. I lost a son to a closed head injury. He was under excellent intensive care for many days following the accident and still died.”
I am so sorry for your loss. My wife is a Respritory Therapist at a level 4 trauma center here in California and sees too many of these “minor” head-trauma cases that end up with someone in a coma or dying. You are so right, these are very tricky cases. Everything can go right and people still don’t make it. I think this actress was one of those cases, but her problem was compounded by her initial refusal to see a doctor (that’s her right) and Quebec’s lack of a modern medical system, which, by absolute necessity, MUST include an air-evacuation component.
When my wife used to unload these helicopters (she hated running out under the spinning rotors), she got patients from Nevada and far Northern California, as well as local car accidents and shootings. People still died.
Helicopters increase the ODDS of survival, but don’t guarentee an outcome as many on this thread seem to think.
well, they’ve been studying it.........what more do you want? /s
there is one benefit of Socialized Medicine....
..A ten month waiting list for an abortion..
We have at least 2 right here in my small city of 200K in the middle of nowhere.
Last time I went was in an ambulance, so I was treated immediately.
Emergency Departments are classified 1 thru 3 with #1 being a designated Trauma Center. Consider this...In the Pacific Northwest (includes Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska) there is only one medical facility designated as a Level 1 Trauma Center (Harborview Medical Center in Seattle).
The lack of air ambulance service in PQ is the exception and not the rule in Canada. Most provinces in Canada do offer air services. In Quebec the lack of air services has been and will continue to be a political decision.
Socialized medicine in Canada did not kill Natasha, an unfortunate accident did.
Also don’t forget that the first hospital had no MRI or CT scan, the larger hospital in Montreal also were lacking this equipment. By the time they decided to fly her home it was too late to have undone the damage. If she had been in the states they would’ve got her flown to a trama center in time.She could be the posterchild against socialized medicine. It’s very sad what happened but if she had been in the states it would’ve had a much different outcome.
Hell, our sorry little town has a helo for med purposes! Or one can be here from Birmingham, AL quickly.
Hardly. I know of one hospital that doesn't even have a Dr. on staff; they have one Physician's Assistant. Dozens have no surgeons.
At many of the County hospitals around here, they will attempt to keep you alive long enough for a helicopter to come from hundreds of miles away; then, of course, you have to ride in the helicopter for hundreds of miles to the trauma center before any real treatment is attempted.
Many people die from injuries that may not have been fatal had they had the luck to have them occur closer to one of the major hospitals.
It is weird that they don't have helicopters, however.
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