Did Quebec's health system kill Richardson?

[gt40]

Wow, a celebrity dies and all of a sudden standard medical care isn't good enough.
Yes it's a tragedy, but if this had been Jean-Luc from Chicoutami there wouldn't have been two lines in the Montreal paper.
She refused a helmet, she refused to see a doctor immediately. What if she was afraid of flying and wouldn't get on air ambulance?
You can't just say the Quebec medical system 'killed' her, that's just a ludicrous statement. The hit to the head killed her, they just didn't save her - and she was partly to blame.

[Dr Mordrid]

And that clears them of responsibility completely?

I don't think so, especially since it sounds like the Dr's up there have been sounding the alarm for quite some time.

[Kruzin]

10-20 people die every year on the slopes in Colorado alone by head injury, including celebs like Michael Kennedy.
Is that Colorado's fault?
Or are they just not famous and attractive enough to matter?

[Dr Mordrid]

Far from being 'idol worship' I'm concerned about those before her and even more so those who come after.

Immediate death is one thing. No one could have saved Sonny Bono when he hit a tree at high speed in California, sustaining massive head injuries. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Semi-immediate death is the same thing. Death occurs too fast for treatment to help. This is the typical "talk and die" scenario.

Preventable death is a whole other thing and in her case, and many others I'm sure, the delay was 4-6 hours - inexcusable.

I severely doubt those 20 folks in Colorado had to suffer such delays unless they're way up on a mountain and inaccessable. Richardson was on a bunny hill.

Yes, she denied treatment at the slope. That said she was seen again at her quarters <1 hour later and showed signs of a head injury. Still denying treatment, but at that point in most all jurisdictions the EMT's have the ability to enforce treatment on the suspicion of a head injury and have legal cover for doing so.

That most certainly is the case here - if, after a head injury, you show symptoms in front an EMT team you're going to the hospital. It's their call, not yours.

That this didn't happen means either the EMT's don't have the training and/or legal cover or they failed in their responsibility. The reports indicate the former.

Now add the inability to do air transport, which would have gotten her treatment in 15 minutes (the Canadian numbers, not mine) there is a real possibility she could have been saved.

If there is any benefit to her death it's that hopefully things change there before some one else less famous dies.