<p>I found the info provided by cbreeze interesting and relevant to the topic. There is a fine line between having a conversation about an incident and calling in the political police.</p>
<p>I didn’t have any problem with the info provided, which is interesting, but with
which, to me, brings the thread down to the unpleasant contentious level that lead me to avoid the political forum. </p>
<p>Politics aside, I wonder if a helicopter have helped in this instance. My understanding, admittedly just from reading and not any sort of medical expertise, is that the most important time window in major trauma is the first hour. That window was well past by the time she started showing symptoms of the injury. The reports that the ambulance was turned away when it came to check on her after the initial accident are probably more the problem here. I wonder if they would have been able to tell from an examination at that time that she needed treatment and if this would have helped. The only person I knew well that died from a head trauma died almost instantaneously so I am not sure what the medics would have been able to tell from an examination right after the accident in this case.</p>
<p>I don’t believe SCM “called in the political police.” She made a relevant statement that politics had entered the discussion with the last part of cbreeze’s post, and I agree. There is another appropriate forum for bringing in politics. </p>
<p>Historically on CC, there are valid reasons for keeping a separation between topics.</p>
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<p>I think that is hard to answer. As you noted (and has been mentioned elsewhere) it appears she refused medical treatment originally and was likely outside the “Golden Hour.” But the question is how long did the transport take from one hospital to another? Maybe I missed that…</p>
<p>I don’t know how long it took to transport between the two hospitals, but a chopper could have done it much faster. Also, it is possible that there was increased damage done during transport that could have been avoided with use of a helicopter.</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom and garland, I find your political policing rather pathetic. SCM, the fact you did not make one comment on my article but concentrated on the “political” aspect of my phrase conjure up picture of you on the alert slapping down anyone making a borderline opinion. Reminds me of Seinfeld’s soup nazi.</p>
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<p>Wasn’t the political forum just started last year?</p>
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<p>Any medic worth his salt would have immediately called in a chopper in any type of head injury. Of course, if there isn’t a chopper, she would have been sent in for a CAT scan, which probably means directly to a hospital in Montreal. It was reported that she complained of a headache about an hour later so there was still time.</p>
<p>cbreeze - why did you have to add the snarky comment about the Canadian medical system being inferior to ours if it wasn’t political. </p>
<p>I agree, don’t politicize this thread. It was begun by a mom who had genuine sympathy (through experience with her own D’s friend) for victims of head injuries. I’d even go so far to say, if anyone here chose to begin a debate about legalizing helmet use in certain situations, to also take it to another thread.</p>
<p>Wow - the very reason I avoid the political forums - the nastiness and viciousness they produce, and the reason I hoped the politics could be kept out of this thread.</p>
<p>There are no medical helicopters in that part of Quebec, due to topography, I think. They had to transport her via ambulance.</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/health/21richardson.html?hp[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/health/21richardson.html?hp</a></p>
<p>From the beginning of this I kept thinking that the “fall” she sustained must have looked nasty since the instructor apprently insisted she be examined and accompanied her down the mountain and into the hotel. Usually when you fall on skis you get up and ski again.
She obviously has suffered quite a scary fall, or maybe the instructor did see that she was “not totally there” right after the fall.
We can speculate about what went wrong, about the helicopter and lack of, but IMO it was just a freaky accident.</p>
<p>I am so sad about this. I think we can all go over a million variations of how she hit her head, why it wasn’t seen as an immediate emergency, since she felt she was fine, etc, etc. To me, this is just one of those extremely freak accidents that is beyond comprehension. I personally feel I was so effected because of her age, close to mine…and that of her kids. Its always so sad when young kids lose their mother. From all accounts she was truly a good woman…her family will be devastated by this no doubt…as will all her freinds and fans.</p>
<p>I beleive that from now on, more people then not, will ski/snowboard/bicycle…etc with helmets. If they don’t the results will be as sad as those who aren’t you convinced that its insane to go in ur car without a seatbelt…or to drive after only a “few” drinks…It takes ugly things like this to happen for most of us to learn lessons.</p>
<p>I hope that doesn’t sound mean…wasn’t meant to.</p>
<p>teriwtt, you are also jumping on one innocuous sentence. My whole post wasn’t about the the inferior Canadian system, but of the fact that a helicopter would have made a difference in transporting her to a trauma center. YOUR politics are showing through by labeling my comment as “snarky.”</p>
<p>Allmusic, I don’t know why the topography would matter. I have seen medical evacuations by helicopters at Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Aconcagua.
The NY times seem to infer that helicopter services are only available where roads don’t exist.</p>
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<p>Umm… helicopters fly around Afghanistan all day long…</p>
<p>I think what intially caught my attention in this story was the fact that she was on a bunny hill. I had to wonder if she was truly just learning to ski, or if she was there with one of her kids, observing, but on skis. Anyway, this piqued my interest, so I followed it; in the process, I’ve learned a great deal about head injuries, and how they can be mistaken for minor, when in fact, can be deadly. I have to say it sort of alarmed me, calling me to question incidents within my own family where there has been a fall, etc.</p>
<p>terwitt…part of what frightens me too is the bunny slope part. When my kids were in jr. high and wanted to go on ski trips, my disabled son wanted to go to. I am NOT a skier, but I’m somewhat athletic, so I thought we’d give it a try…knowing that my son would be spending his time on the bunny slope with me. I didn’t have trouble getting the hang of that slope on my own, but then they wanted me to ski behind him!! not only that, when we got to the bottom, I had to put him in front of me, and hold that rope thingy while they pulled us back up. No helmets on either of us. This was about wow, maybe 8-10 yrs ago now. I never even thought of a head injury being possible…yet, there were so many ways it could have happened to either one of us. The magical thing is, we never fell, lol…not once!! One of his disabilities is low muscle tone, so in a weird way, even if he fell…he would have been better off then me. But the good thing is, for some reason we managed to stay up. Then again…we also both decided we hated the cold and skiing and hot chocolate in the lodge sounded awesome…well, guess where we ended up?</p>
<p>I hope there is no one on this particular thread wanting to agitate people. There is no need. I saw this thread as a group of people sympathetic to the friends and family of Natasha…not a political bashing in any way.</p>
<p>The first time I went skiing I tore the ligaments in one knee on the bunny slopes the very first day. (ski kept going in circles on one of my many falls and the knee went with it). I too never for a moment thought of head injuries on the bunny slopes (though I don’t think anyone wore helmets back then). When I think back to some of the falls the few times I went skiing (I was not good) I am amazed that the knee injury was the only one I suffered. </p>
<p>To be honest I had to google her to see who she was when I first read this thread. But her story has really touched me for some reason. Perhaps the actual events themselves because it seems like what sounds like an innocuous accident ended up so tragically. I kept hoping the reports would turn out to be exaggerated. Perhaps because every picture you see of her with Liam Neeson they look so in love or that she seemed so dedicated to her family. Perhaps it just brings home just how fragile life is and how suddenly it can be over. Somehow, despite her fame and ‘acting royalty’ roots, she seems like many Moms and wives I know whose family would be devastated as hers is. I am not really expressing myself well, but the whole story just makes me very sad.</p>
<p>FWIW, in Whistler they routinely transport patients by helicopter to Vancouver hospitals if it’s beyond the capabilities of the local clinic. There is a helicopter pad right outside the clinic door just for emergencies. I would be surprised if things were so different at a ski area in Quebec if the nearest hospital handling traumas is a significant distance by ambulance away.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that topography has anything to do with it. From what I understand from a brother-in-law who is a surgeon in Montreal, there is no medical helicopter service in that area of Quebec. There are medi-planes but they obviously do not have the flexibility that a helicopter does when it comes to landing. This is not a Canada wide issue, though, so those who are trying to turn this into yet another bash Canadian healthcare debate are mistaken. Doctors in Montreal have apparently been lobbying for a heli-system, obviously without much success. I don’t know enough details to know why. My b-in-law made a good point, though, in that, even if there had been a system, it’s not as though there would be a helicopter stationed at every ski resort. It would have to have been scrambled from wherever it was based, likely Montreal, which may not have resulted in a faster trip to Sacre-Coeur. Maybe, maybe not, there’s really no way to know. How awful for the family to think and wonder if this would have made a difference, or if a helmet would have made a difference, or if she hadn’t refused treatment when the paramedics initially arrived would have made a difference. Sadly, we’ll never know. Perhaps the discussion of these issues will have the benefit of preventing another family from being devastated by such a loss and result in people changing their thoughts on helmets, how to handle a possible head injury, and the government looking into changes to the medical transport system in that province. We can all hope for something beneficial to result from such a terrible loss.</p>
<p>It just doesnt sound like this is one of those situations where we can lay blame on everyone! It was a simple accident that no one could have predicted. Why is it everyone is looking to blame someone or something?</p>
<p>papengena, my intention wasn’t to lay blame on anyone. I’m sorry if it sounds like I was saying that. Sometimes horrible things happen and there’s not always someone to blame.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom - your kids obviously weren’t obsessed with the remake of The Parent Trap, as mine were… the timing of my girls’ ages with the release of that movie made us frequent viewers of it! Otherwise, I might not have known who she was, either as most of her career success has been on stage, in locations that I do not get to often.</p>
<p>I did finally hear one statement on the TV from Lindsay Lohan’s publicist. As I speculated earlier, Lindsay said Natasha always treated her like a member of her family, and is devastated by her death.</p>