{"id":70,"date":"2009-03-19T12:18:14","date_gmt":"2009-03-19T19:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/?p=70"},"modified":"2009-11-13T16:48:58","modified_gmt":"2009-11-13T23:48:58","slug":"quebecs-prehospital-care-system-tragedy-ski-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/quebecs-prehospital-care-system-tragedy-ski-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec’s prehospital care system and the tragedy on the ski hill"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Hal Newman<\/p>\n

Natasha Richardson died yesterday. \tShe succumbed to injuries suffered on a beginner’s trail at the Mont \ttremblant ski resort. She was 45-years-old.<\/p>\n

Some folks have suggested that a \tneurosurgeon and an MRI within two hours of injury might have made a \tdifference.<\/p>\n

Sacre Coeur Hospital is a long haul [about 80 km – 36 miles] from the \tSte-Agathe Hospital where Ms. Richardson was initially transported – that\u2019s \ta very long ride in an ambulance.<\/p>\n

I cannot help but wonder if the outcome might have been different if the \taccident had occurred in a jurisdiction with advanced care paramedics and an \tintegrated helicopter medevac system that would have ensured rapid transfer \tto a tertiary care facility.<\/p>\n

And that lingering doubt shows no \tsign of fading, especially in light of the news this morning that the first \tambulance crew called to the scene left without ever even seeing Ms. \tRichardson.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, when there are \tNASCAR or Formula One races in Montreal, there are medevac helicopters on \tstandby to transport injured drivers from the track to one of the two major \ttrauma centers that serve Montreal.<\/p>\n

Sadly, that\u2019s not the case for the rest of the year and for the rest of the \tpeople.<\/p>\n

So, \twhile there are Advanced Life Support paramedics based on ambulances, \tfiretrucks, and helicopters everywhere else in the G8 – here in Quebec, the \tpowers-that-be have decided ALS paramedics are just not necessary for the chain \tof survival.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s your chain of survival, folks. To quote \t \t Jim Duff<\/a>, \t\u201cIt\u2019s the system that begins with a 911 call and ends when the hospital \tmoves you out of intensive care \u2014 or to the morgue.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \tQuebec, we don\u2019t have Advanced Life Support paramedics because, despite the \tembrace of all things secular, when it comes to our provincial Emergency \tMedical Services [EMS] system we have placed our faith in God \u2013 and the \tskills of the resurrection specialists working in our hospitals’ ERs.<\/p>\n

If \tGod is smiling down upon you, you just might survive the ride in the \tambulance that delivers you into the hands of his emissaries in the ER.<\/p>\n

With \tone of your feet already firmly planted in death\u2019s door, the nurses and \tphysicians of the ER will do their darndest to successfully pull you back \ttowards the light. And once you\u2019re confirmed to be back among the ranks of \tthe living, there will be high-fives all around in the crash room as yet \tanother soul has been saved.<\/p>\n

And \tif you die, well, you died because you were destined to do so despite the \tbest efforts of the team waiting in the Emergency Department.<\/p>\n

You \tjust cannot have an effective Advanced Life Support Emergency Medical \tServices [EMS] system in a society that has bought a lifetime prescription \tto the notion of supporting a monopoly on who should save lives.<\/p>\n

In Quebec, physicians save lives. Ambulance technicians [primary care \tparamedics] deliver patients to the physicians.<\/p>\n

Perhaps one day soon we will begin placing our faith in the people who have \tthe wisdom, experience and courage to work the frontlines of emergency \tmedical services instead of having them continue to serve as the pick-up and \tdelivery service for the ERs.<\/p>\n

In \tthe meantime, you can try praying for a miracle.<\/p>\n

There should never be a monopoly on saving lives or helping people in an \textraordinarily difficult moment of their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Hal Newman Natasha Richardson died yesterday. She succumbed to injuries suffered on a beginner’s trail at the Mont tremblant ski resort. She was 45-years-old. Some folks have suggested that a neurosurgeon and an MRI within two hours of injury might have made a difference. Sacre Coeur Hospital is a long haul [about 80 km […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[46,29,45,43,41,21462],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156,"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions\/156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}