In writing about socialist medical care like they have in Canada, one of my points has been that socialist systems tend to be undercapitalized, as in such a system, capital becomes a liability rather than an asset. For example, the county where I work has about 80,000 residents and has as many MRI machines as does Montreal, which has several million people living in the area.
One doctor has pointed out that it took close to three hours to drive Richardson from Mount Tremblant to the trauma center in Montreal because Quebec has no medical helicopter system, unlike the USA, where such helicopters are common.
We should not be surprised. In Canada, no medical device has the capability of producing an income, so hospitals and medical care facilities often lack what is common in this country. For example, if a hospital or medical practice here purchases an MRI, that machine is able to provide an income to the provider as patients use it.
However, because no one can charge medical consumers for anything in Canada, the decision to purchase an MRI machine is purely one of cost. Medical facilities have only so much money to use, and the purchase of a device that performs MRIs means funds are drawn away from paying medical workers.
I remember a dentist friend telling me about visiting a dental clinic in Germany, which has had socialized medical care for years. He said it was like stepping back into the 1960s.
So, Ms. Richardson, RIP. Unfortunately, we are going to learn all of the wrong lessons from this sad event, as David Kramer has pointed out.
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There is also no sign on the ER that says that if you don’t have insurance, and we treat you, that you might lose your entire life savings because you WILL ultimately be expected to pay for it out of your own pocket.
The death of Ms Richardson is sad and tragic, but all the more so because the real lessons that could save future lives are obscured with the debate about helmets or her initial refusal of care, neither of which is relevant to the larger picture.
People living too far from Montreal need to be airlifted immediately to prevent needless mortality from treatable neurological emergencies. Ms. Richardson suffered brain death from increased intracranial pressure (ICP) secondary to an epidural hematoma. However, there are other common causes of increased ICP from hemorrhaging unrelated to trauma. Hypertensive strokes, ruptured aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, and anticoagulant therapy can all cause bleeding sufficient to increase ICP, which diminishes blood flow and oxygen to the brain and later herniates the brain through the openings at the base of the skull, destroying the brain stem producing brain death.
It would help prevent head trauma if skiers wore helmets, but that does not solve the problem of other common neurological emergencies that require immediate neurosurgical intervention to reduce increased ICP. Quebec has two airplanes but no helicopter for medical emergencies. Helicopters can land and takeoff where planes cannot, and do not require investing in expensive helipads, as erroneously suggested by a representative from Centre Hospitalier Laurentien.
The delay from Ms Richardson’s initial refusal of care—a misjudgment possibly resulting from the injury itself—did not have to be fatal. When she left Mont Tremblant, her Glasgow rating (12/15) documents she was disoriented and confused but responsive and treatable. Other patients with epidural hematomas who were unconscious and treated promptly have recovered. The only way to have stabilized her was neurosurgical intervention to reduce ICP, but the possibility of this treatment was delayed for almost four hours even after medics arrived. Had she been evacuated by helicopter, she would likely be alive today. Anyone who lives too far outside of Montreal and has a stroke, aneurysm, or car accident could meet the same fate needlessly in the absence of swift medical airlift.
albert says:
“There is also no sign on the ER that says that if you don’t have insurance, and we treat you, that you might lose your entire life savings because you WILL ultimately be expected to pay for it out of your own pocket.”
what? so you’d die rather to keep your savings? or feel someone else’s savings are less precious than yours?
Personally, when it gets close to my time or I can crawl, I’m going to the woods with a gun and bowie knife, find a grizzly bear den, kick the bear in the nuts, and have it out. I might even pour gasoline on him and light him on fire. If you see a burning bear running out of the woods, you’ll know who WON.
As said in Legend on the Fall: “It was a good death.”
“Has no one here been to an ER in the US? B/c at the entrance there is always a huge sign in multiple languages saying NO ONE will be turned away b/c of an inability to pay.” – Francesca
But who picks up the tab? The U.S. government? Could the hopital sustain itself without government intervention?
“A person in the US in the same situation, with normal medical coverage, more than an hour away from the nearest trauma center, would have to make the decision of paying $600 for an ambulance, plus $100 ER fee, (or even more for a helicopter) . ”
Well, no. The ambulance or the helicopter would be summoned and you’d likely get on it unless you were in such good shape that you could refuse (as Ms. Richardson might well have done). It’s true that later on the huge bill might be a huge financial problem.
But that doesn’t change the author’s point that the medical infrastructure in the U.S. is vastly superior for the reasons she stated.
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Our son fell some years ago. he also suffered a epiderial hematoma.We were told at the time he didnt have any major bleed or a fractured skull. he had both verified at the postmortem exam.
To many people suffer treatable head injuries and dont get appropite care.
The present system for trauma is scattered at best.Just because they end up in a supposedly good trauma unit doesnt mean they get good care
We learned the hard way keep your eyes and ears wide open when a loved one gets injuried.
He also had excellent insurance and it was in the states it happened
Dont let it happen to you.
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