That's my best estimate based on a recent article by the Globe and Mail.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Natasha Richardson
IM_Golum — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 06:26 AM)
That's my best estimate based on a recent article by the Globe and Mail.
New press reports cast doubt on resort's accounts; timeliness of care!
At this point, I believe the resort (and paramedics and certain health officials) may be guilty of negligence.
Anyone at Mont Tremblant who suffers symptoms of a serious head injury should be immediately rushed by ambulance or better yet, choppered, to Sacre-Coeur in Montreal. Why isn't this standard procedure?!
If the paramedics with the second ambulance had taken her directly to the hospital at Sacre-Coeur immediately (at 3:09) they could have arrived there in less than an hour and a half, going by the driving information at the resort's website. (In other words, about 15 minutes after they in fact arrived at the inadequate local hospital.)
First, some questions: [But d2000on't miss the info in GREEN at the end of this post]
EDIT: 1) I have now read in the Globe and Mail that the small hospital (Centre Hopitalier Laurentien du Ste-Agathe-des-Monts) held her there for nearly two hours before sending her on to a hospital that was equipped to perform neurosurgery. That's very disturbing if true. Why was she held so long?
2) Why did the medics spend half an hour with Natasha before loading her into the ambulance? Was it half an hour, or an hour? Why do some reports indicate that it took 40 minutes from the resort to Ste-Agathe hospital, and others say 20 minutes? Is that ambulance company "authorized" to take trauma victims all the way to Montreal? Why or why not? On whom does the authorization depend? Who would be ultimately responsible for changing paramedic protocols?
3) How soon after she arrived was she given a CT-scan and what did it show?
4) EDIT: QUESTION ANSWERED BY GLOBE AND MAIL'S 911 REPORT
5) How to describe this tumble on the bunny slope? At exactly what time did it occur? Did Natasha show any sign of disorientation after the fall? How long was she sitting on the stretcher before she was taken back to the hotel?
6) According to their website, Mont Tremblant Helicopter tours are "also available for shuttle services to Montreal." At 3PM, when paramedics reported that she had signs of "instability", was it already too late for her to try to arrange for a quick chopper ride into Montreal? According to Quebec authorities,
"we insist on noting that if we need to evacuate someone rapidly we always call on civil emergency services for a helicopter to evacuate people."
If that is the case, why wasn't this considered? Why was Natasha brought to a remote location that couldn't properly treat head trauma victims?
7) Early reports from the hotel indicated that an instructor stayed with Richardson at the hotel to keep her under observation during the hour after she fell. Now we know the interval was actually TWO hours and that Richardson also visited the resort clinic. Was she really under supervision for two hours or was she in fact alone (with her sons) in her room most of the time until she decided to go to the hospital @3PM?
What does the Quebec government, including Quebec Health Minister
Yves Bolduc
plan to do about this? (Note: Mont Tremblant has a helipad, and a private helicopter service available for shuttles to Montreal.) Astonishingly, Quebec is (either one of the few or) the only Canadian province without a helicopter ambulance system. (Reports on this vary.)
9) Was Natasha skiing on a slope appropriate for her level of skill? (One report suggests that she may not have been.)
10) Given snow conditions (SEE end of post), should anyone have been allowed to ski without a helmet?
11) When, if at all, did Natasha exhibit the following symptoms: slurred speech, weakness or numbness in limbs, loss of co-ordination, convulsions or seizures, altered consciousness, drowsiness, confusion, aphasia, hemiparesis? (We already know that at 3PM her complaints included headaches and vomiting.)
Resort statement now turns out to be inaccurate. SEE UPDATE IN GREEN, BELOW
"She was accompanied by an experienced ski instructor who immediately called the ski patrol," it said. "She did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor.
"As an additional precautionary measure, the ski instructor as well as the ski patrol accompanied Mrs Richardson to her hotel. They again recommended she should be seen by a doctor.
"The ski instructor stayed with her at the hotel.
"Approximately an hour after the incident, Mrs Richardson was not feeling good. An ambulance was called."
We now have this from the Telegraph, citing the Globe and Mail, which I will provisionally consider reliable, since it quotes the head of an emergency services company by name.
Natasha Richardson dies: first ambulance at ski resort 'was turned away'
The first ambulance sent to the ski resort where Natasha Richardson suffered her fatal accident was turned away and told it was not needed, it has been -
SpectraShorty — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 06:33 AM)
A lot of those questions may not even get answered to the public. It's really up to the family if they want to release the exact reasons for Natasha's death. As for the first ambulance; my guess is she was still awake and alert at the time and refused to ride in it.
Don't forget to THINK before you TYPE. -
dioro — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 10:13 AM)
No, from what I've read they wanted her in NY so that her family could pay their last respects there before they would take her off life support. There are also more formalities and red tape involved when someone dies in a foreign country.
As to how the accident happened, I would
speculate
that perhaps she spun around, fell backwards and slammed her head on the packed and/or icy snow. This is mere speculation on my part, though. -
CartmanRocks — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 06:52 AM)
They should have brought her to Mass. General Hospital here in Boston. When my grandma had a stroke (while in Quebec, I might add) they drove her by ambulance to Mass. General. They have an amazing neurology unit.
"Is this a catin a hat?"
"No, it's a turtlein a shell." -
IM_Golum — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 07:35 AM)
Questions 1&2 are asking essentially the same question: was Centre Hopitalier Laurentien du Ste-Agathe-des-Monts negligent?
Some interesting comments from medical experts:
Doctors remain split on the question of whether immediate medical attention may have been able to save Richardson.
Related
Natasha Richardson Dies After Ski AccidentWATCH: Understanding Richardson's Brain InjuryRedgrave and Richardson to Star in 'Night Music'Dr. Alan Faden, professor of neuroscience at Georgetown University and a traumatic brain injury (TBI) expert, said he believes the answer is an unmistakable "Yes."
"If it is a bleed on the brain then it is absolutely a neurosurgical emergency and needs rapid diagnosis and treatment," Faden said. "You can go in and evacuate the blood. If you can stop the bleeding, these people can be completely salvageable, with no long-term effects."
However, Dr. Eugene Flamm, chairman of neurosurgery at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, disagreed that early treatment would necessarily have changed the outcome.
"We all bump our heads, and people come into the emergency department all the time after hitting their heads," he said. "People fall during skiing; it is not an uncommon thing."
If there is no loss of consciousness, Flamm said, these common bumps and knocks often are deemed non-serious by doctors upon examination. He added that even when doctors decide to perform a scan on the head, many bleeds in the brain are hard to see or are even undetectable in their early stages.
"The scan may have been normal, and then how would it have changed anything?" Flamm asked.
"People don't realize how common this is," he said. "Every year, there are at least 2 million head injuries in the United States, and about 500,000 of these are serious enough for the emergency room."
He added that he believes the use of a helmet may have helped lessen the likelihood of a traumatic brain injury. Still, Flamm said there is little evidence in this case that a helmet would have warded off Richardson's injury.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=7116273&pag e=1 -
IM_Golum — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 08:21 AM)
It certainly is up to the family in many respects, but at the same time, if there's room for improvement in medical procedures and policies, or if there's some medical negligence involved over at Ste-Agathe's (just speculation on my part), then the public has a legitimate right to know.
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Danusha_Goska — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 08:39 AM)
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=7116273&pag e=1
Good article addresses many questions.
Perhaps immediate medical attention, or even a helmet, would not have changed things. -
IM_Golum — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 07:32 PM)
Perhaps immediate medical attention, or even a helmet, would not have changed things.
That is certainly possible, but at this point, based on the very limited information I have, I think there's a good chance she might have been saved had she been taken by ambulance or, better yet, chopper, directly to Sacre-Coeur from the resort, perhaps (just being "creative" here rather than medically knowledgeable) with ice packs on her head and neck to slow down the swelling and bleeding. (Sacre-Coeur has neurosurgeons; Ste-Agathe probably not.) -
PhantomPhan222 — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 12:34 PM)
That's where you have to be careful with the media. Often the media will deliberately seek out people with two differing opinions simply for the purpose of what they might call "balance".
"People always sing 'Part of Your World' at auditions that's why I only know one lyric." -
lillandra_ — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 08:40 AM)
How many people fall on beginner's slopes every day? And how many end up in an unfortunate death? I've seen people fall harder while playing soccer (not that I saw the ski mishap, but I've seen other's on slopes). Could be that Yves Coderre is just covering his butt in case anyone asks why 'no ambulance'. Maybe he should answer how many other times the ambulance was sent home from ski hills when the skiier appeared to be fine and probably said that they didn't need an ambulance? (I've worked in the Canadian Rockies at ski resorts it happens a lot, actually)
Hospitals go by the symptoms they're given when the patient arrives, and her being a star doesn't guarantee her any better or special treatment than anyone else. Had this been 'Jane Smith' from down the block, would you be asking and assuming 2000things?
People are already coming out of the woodwork with 'what if's' and the only ones that can answer are those that were there and patient records are not for public consumption in Canada.
The only people that really need to know the answers are her family.
It's a terrible accident and a terrible end result. I've been a fan of her acting since I first saw The Handmaid's Tale in the early '90s. and I hope her family gets the answers they need, and that the public and press show some respect during this time.
My opinion can differ from yoursit's allowed.
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IM_Golum — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 06:58 PM)
The only people that really need to know the answers are her family.
I couldn't DISAGREE more.
This is a matter of compelling public concern, because it involves the public health and well-being.
Should ski resorts send people with Natasha Richardson's symptoms to a hospital that is not equipped to do neurosurgery?
That's just one question among many that fall under the rubric of the public's right to know. -
jlb5947 — 17 years ago(March 19, 2009 09:29 AM)
It is very possible that Natasha already had a brain aneurysm waiting to burst or some other brain ailment. Yes, people do hit their heads everyday. When I worked at a fast food restaurant as a teenager, I hit my head very hard on the sharp edge of the ice chest in the drive thru. I felt like crap for the rest of the day but I was fine. Or maybe, Natasha just hit her head harder than she realized. Not everyone loses consciousness after head trauma.