Natasha Richardson

[Luv2play]

The death of Natasha Richardson was a tragic reminder of how crucial certain decisions are following an accident. From all reports I have read, following her spill on Mont Tremblant, Natasha went back to her hotel, accompanied by her ski instructer and a ski patroller. She at first declined medical assistance but when she developed a severe headache within an hour she was rushed to hospital. This is where the first big mistake was made.

 

She was transported by ambulance to a local hospital in a town 24 miles from the ski resort. I know this hospital, I once took my father there after he had fainted at a restaurant at Mont Tremblant. He was elderly and on heart medication and a doctor at the restaurant who examined him said he would need observation but it was nothing serious. That small hospital in the Laurentians was fine for this purpose. But not for Natasha.

 

A severe headache following a fall and hitting one's head is a signal that serious brain damage might have occured. You want to go directly to a hospital where they can deal with trauma to the brain. Here is where the second mistake was made. Natasha was transported to the Sacre Coeur Hospital in Montreal, a general hospital with no particular expertise in head trauma.

 

She should have gone to the Montreal Neurological Institute, a world class medical hospital associated with McGill University. Given the type of injury Natasha suffered, which caused bleeding to the brain, if she had any chance of survival, it would have been available at the Neuro, as it is referred to in Montreal.

 

As chance would have it, my father was operated on at the Neuro in 1949 when he was a young man. That operation saved him from life in a wheelchair. You might say I have a special brief for that hospital. I wish it had been used in Natasha's case.

[josephga]

my aunts husband passed out in the back yard a week b4 Christmas. He said he was fine but had a headache, hours later his head was pounding and he was rushed to the hospital. turned out to be a brain aneurysm he was very lucky to be alive he was in a coma for over 2 weeks and over 6 weeks in the hospital and its now march and he still can't walk on his own

[+ nycman]

Luv, unless you were directly involved in the care of this patient,

I think you are making some HUGE assumptions and presenting them as facts.

 

That's not smart and not fair to the people involved in her care.

 

Perhaps your assumptions are all correct, but I doubt it.

 

Yes, it appears she had an epidural hematoma.

 

Yes, SOME patient's lives can be saved if an epidural hematoma is drained quickly.

 

Everything else you wrote is pure wild conjecture.

 

The ignorant game you are playing is a dangerous at best....

[Luv2play]

 

The ignorant game you are playing is a dangerous at best....

 

Oh please. I related this story because I personally KNOW all these places and live in this area. My chalet is twenty minutes from Mont Tremblant. I have skiied there since I was a child. I learned to ski on the Nansens Run, where Natasha fell. I know the drive from there to the first hospital she was taken to, I know that hospital and what it offers and its limitations, and the drive from there to the second hospital and what it offers.

 

As I stated, had the choice been mine, I would have directed the ambulance to take her directly to the Neurological Institute in Montreal. Google it, why don't you? You might learn something.

[+ ArVaGuy]

This was simply a tragic accident and its debatable that even with immediate medical attention if she would have survived. It was her time, plain and simple. All the second guessing does not change that fact. But these days second guessing is key part of the news cycle.

 

Here's a link to an AP article stating that lack of a rescue helicopter was a contributing factor in Richardson's death.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090321/ap_on_en_mo/natasha_richardson

 

Here's a direct quote:

"The province of Quebec lacks a medical helicopter system, common in the United States and other parts of Canada, to airlift stricken patients to major trauma centers. Montreal's top head trauma doctor said Friday that may have played a role in Richardson's death.

 

"It's impossible for me to comment specifically about her case, but what I could say is ... driving to Mont Tremblant from the city (Montreal) is a 2 1/2-hour trip, and the closest trauma center is in the city. Our system isn't set up for traumas and doesn't match what's available in other Canadian cities, let alone in the States," said Tarek Razek, director of trauma services for the McGill University Health Centre, which represents six of Montreal's hospitals."

 

I will not be surprised if some politician or advocacy group seizes on the above quote to claim that Canada's universal healthcare system, i.e. socialized medicine, contributed to Ms Richardon's death.

[TruthBTold]

Epidural hematoma.

 

My first cousin puts on a benefit every year with the money going to a foundation for MS research (his sister has MS). Last year he decided he would put on an amateur boxing tournament. During his match, he got hit in the head. Even though he was wearing a helmet, he was knocked unconcious for a few seconds. He got up, felt fine and drove home. When he got there, he developed a headache. Luckily, his wife is a nurse and made him go to the hospital. They did some scans and found he had an epidural hematoma. He had to have emergency surgery. He is still having speech therapy. BTW, his sister asked, "Why didn't he just do bingo?"

[Guest zipperzone]

The ignorant game you are playing is a dangerous at best....

 

I think you're off-base here. How can you claim he's playing a dangerous game when he is advocating one should get the best medical help/advise, as soon as possible - like immediately? This is dangerous????

[Luv2play]

I have followed the debate regarding the lack of a helicopter air ambulance in Quebec and what it might have meant had one been available. In Quebec, which is a huge land mass and has people scattered over thousands of miles of territory, there is an air ambulance service for remote spots, such as the Arctic. But not so near the large cities.

 

I am ambivalent about helicopter ambulances myself. Within the last year there have been six, I believe air crashes of helicopter ambulances in the US which killed patients, pilots, nurses, paramedics and possibly people on the ground. Is this any improvement over the loss of one life in one isolated case? I don't know.

[Luv2play]

I just checked the figures: 35 fatalities in 2008 in the US including 6 patients in 9 crashes, five at night. 29 people died trying to save 6, who also died. The numbers are not good.

[seeker630]

I just checked the figures: 35 fatalities in 2008 in the US including 6 patients in 9 crashes, five at night. 29 people died trying to save 6, who also died. The numbers are not good.

\

 

But how many people did those 29 save BEFORE the crashes?

[+ nycman]

\

 

But how many people did those 29 save BEFORE the crashes?

 

No one has ever shown that medical helicopters save lives.

 

Most medical people...when they are being honest...will admit this.

 

Unfortunately a GREAT deal of money is tied to the glamour of medical helicopters.

 

Pretty toys?...yes!

 

Lifesavers?...doubtful at best.

[seeker630]

No one has ever shown that medical helicopters save lives.

 

Most medical people...when they are being honest...will admit this.

 

Unfortunately a GREAT deal of money is tied to the glamour of medical helicopters.

 

Pretty toys?...yes!

 

Lifesavers?...doubtful at best.

 

Interesting. Has anyone proven that ambulances save lives? (That's a serious question, by the way. I'm not sure how you could *prove such a thing. But there is medical evidence, I believe, that mortality is lower for some conditions when proper treatment is delivered within a certain timeframe.)

[Luv2play]

There was a huge debate following the death of princess Diana about the differences between how ambulances take patients to the hospital in France and in the United States. In France they stop whenever they deem it necessary to "stabilize" the patient. Thus it took over two hours to get Diana to a hospital that was only a 10 minute ride away had they sped (this was at night with little traffic). In the US they "scoop and run" with the patient asap to the hospital. There will always be "what ifs" cases.

[+ nycman]

Interesting. Has anyone proven that ambulances save lives? (That's a serious question, by the way. I'm not sure how you could *prove such a thing. But there is medical evidence, I believe, that mortality is lower for some conditions when proper treatment is delivered within a certain timeframe.)

 

The two second answer to your question is "no, no one has ever proven that ambulances save lives".

 

In fact, I once saw a presentation at a national medical conference titled, "911?...just call me a cab!"

 

It outlined the fact that ambulances are no better, and perhaps worse, at saving lives than cab drivers

who just drive straight to the Emergency Department.

 

Counterintuitive perhaps, but true.

 

Please don't bombard us with stories of how your local EMS "saved" your 98 year old aunt Rosie last

Thanksgiving when she choked on a turkey bone. That's not science...it's a nice story that you should

remember and tell at cocktail parties. Nothing more.

[seeker630]

The two second answer to your question is "no, no one has ever proven that ambulances save lives".

 

Please don't bombard us with stories of how your local EMS "saved" your 98 year old aunt Rosie last

Thanksgiving when she choked on a turkey bone. That's not science...it's a nice story that you should

remember and tell at cocktail parties. Nothing more.

 

Not sure who that is addressed to - I have no intention of telling any stories. As for science - haven't seen any around here.