| one of the often disregarded aspects of tort law is that major ski areas have invested in excellent ski patrols and extremely good medical and emergency airlift capabilities
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Posted on 03/21/2009 9:45:23 PM PDT by devere
The death Wednesday of British actress Natasha Richardson after she tumbled on a beginner's ski hill at Mont Tremblant is raising questions about Quebec's lack of an emergency helicopter system.
The wife of actor Liam Neeson, and member of the Redgrave acting dynasty, suffered what was at first deemed to be a minor fall Monday.
Richardson, 45, refused to be taken to hospital after the accident, but her condition worsened about two hours later. The actress was then transported to a hospital in Ste. Agathe, a 40-minute ambulance ride from the Mont Tremblant ski resort.
After she was stabilized, Richardson was transferred to the trauma centre at Hôpital du Sacré Coeur in Montreal 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 the city in 15 minutes.
Trauma specialists have been warning of this lack of service for years, saying it could lead to unnecessary deaths.
"This is like not having a fire department in a community," said Dr. Tarek Razek, head of the trauma team at the McGill University Health Centre.
Timeliness is crucial after major head traumas, he stressed.
"You need to get to a trauma centre fast, and the faster we can organize that, the more likely you are to live," he said.
He stressed that Quebec is one of the few jurisdictions in North American and Europe that don't have emergency medevac helicopters.
"I'm really worried. What's going on? Why do we have this gap in our services?" he asked, adding even the smaller province of Nova Scotia has this service.
Quebec's chief co-ordinator of air-ambulance services says the provincial government wants to put in place a new helicopter service to provide quicker transport of trauma patients
(Excerpt) Read more at montrealgazette.com ...
Debate all they want. Miss Richardson bears some of her death's responsibility.
In the United States, one of the often disregarded aspects of tort law is that major ski areas have invested in excellent ski patrols and extremely good medical and emergency airlift capabilities. This would never have happened in this fashion at Vail, Breckenridge or Aspen.
“Debate all they want. Miss Richardson bears some of her death’s responsibility.”
No doubt you are correct. And if only she had worn a helmet she might have been entirely unharmed.
But the Province of Quebec has now been seriously embarrassed. The death of one famous person will end up saving a hundred anonymous citizens. They ought to name their first medivac chopper “Natasha” in her honor.
How many other people have died because Quebec lacks medical helicopters?
I was just about to post this, damn near verbatim. GMTA!
Then again, if the paramedics know you’ve been it hard on the head, they might think you are not in any condition to refuse treatment...
Sorta like asking a man who has been drinking if he’s okay to drive...
Yes, I too was thinking she probably felt okay and thought nothing was wrong right then when they asked her.
It’s sad, regardless.
Good point.
They can probably get some helicopters cheap from Maryland; there’s talk of stopping or reducing the use of lifeflights because of a recent crash with a patient aboard.
I’m not sure if a lawsuit has already been filed, but some Monday-morning quarterbacks have opined that that patient didn’t necessarily have to be airlifted out.
This might be one time in Ms. Richardson's life that her fame worked against her. It's only speculation, but the paramedics may have been more forceful with a plain old nobody. Maybe not.
Possibly. She would have had one hour more which may have saved her life or may not have. She still would have suffered terrible damage with a transport taking that long.
If someone has sustained a blow to the head, emergency medical personnel will try very hard to convince that person to consent to transport to an ER for further evaluation. Particularly with head injuries — precisely because something like this can happen.
But unless the patient is unconscious, an unaccompanied minor, or otherwise deemed incompetent, you can’t take someone to the hospital against their will. When they refuse, you obtain a signed release that documents their informed refusal and protects the provider from liability. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work in the U.S.
oh jeez. get off it already. she died. so what. happens all the time. besides that, she was supposedly acting like all was well when she got up. people in the media think that they can really make their careers if they can show some major govt incompetence (unless it targets liberal politicians).
Welcome to the unintended consequences of socialized medical care.
lack of trained personnel and diagnostic equipment.
long waits for diagnostic care.
She was a victim of Canadian medical care. When they realized she was going to need superior American medical care, it was too late.
A preview of BHO Kennedy care.
If you go and look at the Swiss ski areas...within a 30-minute flying time...there are various hospitals and clinics with landing pads. On an average day...there are probably six helicopters in the ski season...which are ferrying hurt skiers off mountains. The bill gets passed directly to the individual’s healthcare policy (naturally, nationally mandated healthcare in Europe makes this possible). You can figure a charge of $4k minimum for this 30-minute ride.
Pepsionice . . . cool name (literally). I like it.
| one of the often disregarded aspects of tort law is that major ski areas have invested in excellent ski patrols and extremely good medical and emergency airlift capabilities
|
My wife and I recently went skiing in Red River, NM. Ski patrol was very visible, saw them in use once or twice that lost control coming into the lift area and hit a hay bale. She was carried off the slope. Also saw a helipad in town.
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Plus, if you suffer from mesothelioma, you may have a claim.