As to the issue why the first ambulance went away…isn’t it a person’s right to refuse treatment if s/he doesn’t see anything wrong? My understanding is that you are absolutely within your rights to do so. It is a tragedy that there were no initial symptoms (as everyone says, this is common) and she did not seek immediate medical attention.

It is easy to look back (knowing the diagnosis) and tell the doctors what they should have done. But the medical professionals on hand made their best diagnosis given the tools they had and the symptoms that had been presented.

This is a terrible tragedy, but one that could have happened all over the US as well as in Canada. It is fair to question whether the health care system played a role, but let’s not over-romanticize the US here…the overall system covers rural areas and not just the big cities.

We now know that the ambulance took only about 45 minutes to make the trip. It is doubtful that the helicopter could have done much better.

We also know that the local hospital had a ct scanner, and it is very likely the protocols would have required its use in this case (although they won’t confirm it was used, for privacy reasons).

The rest, for now is speculation.

But it may leave the question of whether the ambulance service, the private resort, the private hotel, and the private ski patrollers did enough to get Ms. Richardson help at the earliest possible stage.

None of that has anything to do with weaknesses in the “socialized” Canadian healthcare system.

It was the 7-8 hours it took for her to reach a qualified hospital. My big question is this, why were “burr holes” NOT done at the first hospital with or without a CT Scan? It is the quickest and easiest way to decrease ICP. Put her in a medical coma, drill and go. I’ve done “burr holes’ in a patients room, no operating room required. The knew they would have to transport by ground and how long that would take. Why assist and maintain the heart and lungs when the brain is dying minute by minute. No medication can reduce ICP as effectively as burr holes, yet that was left out of the equation.

Maybe someday I’ll learn different but to put being sued for malpractice over what needs to be done, is sad at best. No air lift service is even worse. Come into the 21st century Canada, you are way behind and this case has shown your faults to the world.

What my English countepart should have said was, you Canadian doc’s need to grow a set of bollocks.

Since she had to be detetoriating fast after they picked her up from her hotel, maybe the medics thought based on her symptoms and history, a general surgeon could intervene. The tragedy was not having neurosurgeon at the location where they shot the CAT scan. Then there would be no need for Montreal or choppers.

Vanessa Redgrave is an extraordinarily kind woman who has given so much to this world. I just hated to see her kind heart get broken this way.

I believe had the same accident happened in the US, that Ms. Richardson would have been more likely to survive, because her medical care would have been delivered expeditiously, in general all around better than what is available to Canadian residents. Doctor: Lack of medical helicopter cost Richardson
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090321/ap_on_re_us/natasha_richardson

Actually, the province next door to Quebec, Ontario, had too frequently had to send neurosurgery patients to the US. These were trauma patients brought into the ER at busy Toronto hospitals. Due to the bed shortages, ER nurses and doctors had to scramble to find care. In the meantime, these delays meant that the patients were not getting a crucial operation and moving them would perhaps presents lead to further deterioration, brain damage, and possibly death that might otherwise be prevented if more immediate care was available at the Toronto hospital. There are many problems that exist in all provinces and territories throughout Canada.

Its important for Americans to keep in mind, when travelling to Canada, that healthcare may not be up to that received at home. If you get injured, rather than take a chance, go to the hospital, because it can take hours to get care in a Canadian emergency room. Often there are l-o-n-g delays. This even occurs when its necessary to send a person from a smaller hospital to a larger trauma centre. In some cases this happens when the tertiary hospital lacks critical care beds. In Canada this happens a lot, please be forewarned.

You might find the following interesting:

“More than 150 critically ill Canadians – many with life-threatening cerebral hemorrhages – have been rushed to the United States since the spring of 2006 because they could not obtain intensive-care beds here.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080119.neuro191/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2009/03/natasha-richardson-medical-blogosphere.html

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