I thought exactly the same thing. She would have had a chance in America with the latest technology.
Yes - There was no budget for an airlift helicopter. It took over 2 hours to get her to the hospital after she denied treatment.
My understanding is she refused treatment twice (both in the form of an ambulance ride to the hospital at the time of the incident, and later in the day). Once she started having the headaches, it was likely too late. It would not have mattered whether she was in Canada or the United States.
Ummm, Richardson herself refused treatment more than once.
PRINCESS DIANA died because of Britain's Health Care System. Had the accident happened in the USofA, she'd have lived because OUR Paramedics don't make calls to the Queen/Prime Minister (or here the President) to find out what to do. Our Paramedics would have triaged her and had her in a helicopter on her way to the best hospital within 20 minutes, tops. Probably less than that. Princess Diana bled out while awaiting medical attention. In other words, Princess Diana WAS murdered by the British Health Care System AND the Royal Family.
Same kind of thing happens here. The moral of the story is to treat every head injury seriously.
here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2211434/posts
102 replies
For conservatives to blame Canada's system is the equivalent of Liberals blaming everything on Bush.
Dopey.
Posted before and the whole concept is BS.
One, the answer in this case is no. In many other examples yes.
Although many have correctly pointed out that she initailly refused to go to the hospital, that does not absolve the system. It is the norm that people who have a seemingly minor medical problem do not seek medical attention. She did not appear to be seriously injured, and was awake and conscious. When the ambulance returned to her room 2 hours later, she was still awake and talking. She discussed not goin to the ER, but the hotel manager and EMS personnel convinced her to go.
My concern is that she was awake and talking when she finally was transported to the ER, but still died, with systematic delays in care being apparent. The head of trauma at McGill, one the the best medical schools in Canada, voiced similar concerns. A patient with an epidural hematoma who is conscious at the time of transport by EMS should almost always have a good outcome.
I’m a physician. When I heard that someone turned the EMTs away initially, I thought OMG, at least she would have had a chance if they had moved even by an ambulance. Hours later she was doomed.
I’m sure there is a law suit pending out there, but against whom? The doctors who finally got her in her closing moments? The ski resort who didn’t have a helicopter.
YES, this is exactly the kind of medical care you can expect under a social medical care system.
One and I bet you choose yes.
The Canadian health system did not kill Natasha Richardson, but it sure didn’t help.
Quebec does not have medivac helicopters, presumably because the Province of Quebec choose to spend their health dollars elsewhere. Unfortunately Canadian law prohibits a private entity from offering a service like that.
In the US a private helicopter would have gotten to her quicker, but since she refused initial treatment,and due to the nature of her injury, it might have been to late anyway.
But as I said, not having a helicopter available did not help the situation.
I loved flying down the mountain feeling the wind and free from a helmet while snowboarding. I bought into the culture that snowboarders “ride” and we don't wait for anyone and were more cool than “planker”(skiers). I wore goggles to protect my eyes and improve vision. I wore outfits that didn't match, looking more like street clothes. I even wore goofy caps to signify being part of a fraternity that was unique.
One day, in an attempt to keep up with my friends, I jumped over the cliff of a bowl, in a attempt to get ahead of them and finish to the bottom of the hill before them. I landed fine but twenty feet later caught an edge on some ice and tumble head over head.
When I landed, it was on my front and felt the air leave my lungs. Worse, I suddenly had a massive headache and it felt as if my head had come off my shoulders. It hurt all around the collar line and all the way up. I mean like my I my head had been severed.
I couldn't move, from the pain and laid there for probably five minutes. As I began to get up the pain just increased. I slowly raised myself to my hands and knees and had to several time just lay my head in the snow, still on my hands and knees. I could not believe the pain.
I was off trail, out of breath and there was no one coming anytime soon. I knew that.
I reached deep inside and was able to get to my feet. Standing there I contemplated riding to the bottom of the hill or walking. I was good enough, I thought to myself, to ride and it would be faster. I would go to the first aid station and see what damage had been done.
Arriving at lodge I found the first aid station and explained what happened and how felt. They checked my out and determined that I had given myself a concussion and recommended taking it easy for a few days, no drinking and get down off the mountain to sea when I could. You see that altitude increases the damage caused by head trauma or bleeding.
It was Sunday and we leaving in few anyway. I packed up my gear and waited for my friends.
The next day, I was home and went to my doctor. He confirmed the concussion and then Xray my ribs, as I still having pain when breathing.
The doctor said I had two cracked ribs in addition to the concussion and recommended no snow boarding for 4 weeks. I said something like “Well, they aren't broken and I feel fine so long as I am moving I will be careful. That prognosis wasn't going to keep me, “a rider”, from cruising down the mountain. I told I would stay on trail and go easy.
He then said that a helmet would be a good idea, for all the reasons we have heard before. I agreed and went to REI and picked one up.
That was 7 years ago and since then I have fallen on my head, run into trees and been hit in the head, by skis or boards, from other skiers or snowboarders as they were falling.
I have 8 helmets now and always ride them. I take a spare and very strongly encourage anyone going with me to wear one of my spare if they do not have one.
I tell them you only have one head and it is pretty important to protect it. They don't do transplants like your kidneys and you can live with one kidney.
I have helped a few people ice their heads after falling. I keep spare plastic bags in backpack and scoop the snow into the bags. I have seen people with hemotomas the size of a chalk board erasure.
None of these people wore helmets and many were on beginner slopes.
Your brain can bleed slowly or quickly depending on where you were hit and how hard.
Sometimes things just happen beyond your control. You may have fallen and think everything is fine and then suddenly you have a massive headache and an internal hematoma. Medical care is a personal decision and you have to aggressively seek it out. Ms. Richardson did not have someone from ski patrol following her around nor someone from the medical community.
Even then, many headaches are Mountain Sickness that is brought from high altitude. There may have even a discussion about that and they may have administered oxygen and water to east the symptoms.
Sometimes life and death just happens.
If you snowboard or ski, wear a helmet, even if you are a beginner. You will be safer and you feel more confident knowing you have some protection on your head.
It really depends on when she died. If it took 2.5 hours to get her to the hospital after she felt the first symptoms (headache) and she was alive when she arrived at the hospital then it is quite likely a helicopter ride of 15 or 20 minutes to an emergency room would have saved her life. If she died in the ambulance shortly after beginning the trip it may have been too late anyway.
bttt