Did Natasha lose a precious THREE hours to resort/paramedic mishandling?

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 don'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?

8) 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 claimed.

By Mark Coleman in Los Angeles
Last Updated: 12:00PM GMT 19 Mar 2009

Yves Coderre, head of the local emergency services company, confirmed doctors were intially dispatched to the Mont Tremblant resort in Canada after Miss Richardson's fall on Monday afternoon.

However, speaking to the Globe and Mail newspaper, Mr Coderre maintained that medics sent out by his company, Ambulances Radisson, were deemed unnecessary by ski patrollers.

"They never saw the patient," he said, adding: "So they turned around."

Mr Coderre, who is a veteran paramedic, said the decision was likely to have been a key factor in Miss Richardson's death.

He told the Globe and Mail: "When you have a head trauma you can bleed. It can deteriorate in a few hours or a few days.

"People don't realise it can be very serious. We warn them they can die and sometimes they start to laugh. They don't take it seriously."

Mr Coderre said his team was subsequently called to assist Miss Richardson at her five-star hotel, though he made no mention in the article of specifically how much time had passed.

It was previously reported that the actress had waited an hour before receiving treatment for a second time.

Upon reaching Miss Richardson, he said members of the crew found the actress "wasn't in good shape", whereupon a decision was made to rush her to hospital.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5014579/Nat asha-Richardson-dies-first-ambulance-at-ski-resort-was-turned-away.htm l


EDIT: NEW TIMELINE FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL
[@12:40PM Natasha takes a "bad tumble" according to "a source close to the Canadian police".
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1163715/The-ski-instructo r-tried-save-Natasha-Richardson.html
12:43PM: first 911 call from the resort
1PM: medics arrive (but are turned away because NR declines treatment
1:10-1-30: NR signs resort clinic release form and is escorted back to her hotel
3PM: second 911 call for an ambulance
3:09: medics arrive; Natasha is reportedly conscious but showing signs of "instability" according to paramedics. According to "a source close to the Canadian police"interviewed in the above link? She was "disoriented, confused and vomiting."
3:42: medics load her by stretcher into the ambulance after tending to her for half an hour. HALF AN HOUR???
@4:20: ambulance arrives at the small hospital in Ste-Agathe OR this is the first time she is seen by a doctor, OR both. (So was it a 20 minute ride or a 40 minute ride? There are conflicting reports here. Why on earth would she be sent there if she is showing signs of neurological instability when Sacre-Coeur (I believe) was just about half an hour farther away (or far quicker by chopper).
@6-6:15PM: Natasha is sent by ambulance to Sacre-Coeur in Montreal.
@7-7:15PM: Natasha arrives at Sacre-Coeur. Trauma surgeon Ronald Denis battles to save her life.

I would like to know from Sacre-Coeur what Natasha's medical condition was when she arrived! My guess is she was in a vegetative state by them.

This is horrible, folks, and I suspect some resort officials were practicing CYA rather than reporting the exact truth.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090319.wrichardso nhours0319/BNStory/National/home

More from the Dail Mail on SNOW CONDITIONS, SLOPE:
Ms Richardson was reported to have fallen on a nursery slope, but Mont Tremblant Police Captain Michel Ledoux said that she had in fact been descending the Nansen Run, a green run rated as suitable for beginners with some experience.
An above-average temperature of about 8C had softened the snow and other skiers said it was potentially treacherous, with patches of soft snow interspersed with hardened snow and ice.

ABC News Timeline additions:
At 1:10 p.m., Richardson signed hospital waiver paperwork and walked 300 yards to hotel along with her ski instructor. She was back in her room by 1:30 p.m.

At 2:59 p.m., paramedics received a second call for help. An ambulance showed up at the hotel exactly ten minutes later. Richardson was conscious but showing signs that made paramedics call the hematology department at the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Ste-Agathe, where the ambulance took her.

The Toronto Star reported that Richardson, lying heavily wrapped in blankets in an intensive-care bed, tubes covering her face, was loaded into an ambulance outside Montreal's Hôpital du Sacre-Coeur at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, in preparation for her flight to New York.


Questions about the ABC article:

1) Was Natasha alone in her hotel room with her two sons at 1:30PM or did anyone from the resort accompany her?
2) Did Natasha make the 911 call, or did she call someone from the resort who then placed the call? Did she say she had a headache and was feeling unwell, or was she more specific?