Natasha Richardson Skiing Accident: How a Brain Injury Shows Up Later
Several media outlets are reporting that Natasha Richardson (actress and wife of Liam Neeson) had a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant ski resort near Montreal. She was reportedly getting a lesson at the time and fell. She wasn't taken to the hospital at first, but went back to her hotel room and began complaining of headaches.
Natasha Richardson
Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Richardson finally went to a hospital more than an hour after the accident. She was transferred to the ICU in another hospital and has since been flown by jet to yet another hospital -- don't know where right now. According to a story on People.com, Richardson showed no sign of injury -- no blood or bruising. She acted fine right after falling.
TMZ is reporting that Richardson is suffering from brain swelling. That certainly follows the description of her behavior. I've seen comments on some articles expressing doubts about the diagnosis, since Richardson felt fine after a seemingly insignificant accident.
The unfortunate truth is, some types of brain injury can have absolutely no outward signs of trouble for the first few minutes. The trauma is all inside the skull, invisible until the bruising swells enough to put pressure on the uninjured parts of the brain.
Headaches are a common complaint for brain swelling, but they don't have to be present. The victim can also be confused, dizzy, complaining of nausea and suffering from blurred vision. None of which have been reported, but if I was the paramedic called to Richardson's side I would be looking for those symptoms.
Unfortunately, she didn't have to have any of those for this to be a serious injury, which means the brain injury could -- and apparently did -- get missed. The only surefire way to diagnose swelling of the brain is to take a picture of it with a CT scanner. For that, the victim needs to go to the hospital. If there's no indicator that a hospital is necessary, well, you get the picture.
This might have been avoided if Richardson was wearing a helmet. I learned to ski without a helmet and as a skier, I'm not a fan. As a paramedic, I promise you they're necessary.
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Comments
Does anyone stop and think how bad the national free healthcare is in Canada? The first hospital probably had no staff familiar with life saving cranial pressure relief and probably even didn’t have a catscanner. She probably died from the really poor free health system that our government wants us to have.
Frank, I’m not sure I disagree with you. I think there are certainly some unanswered questions surrounding this incident.
Let me be very clear, however, this injury could’ve been missed whether a CT scanner was available in the first hospital or not. Having the scanner may have made a difference, and it may not have.
There’s an in depth discussion on the issue of Canadian healthcare at the Patient Empowerment site.
Always Wear A Helmet! Ski or Snowboard! You may not always need it, but you should always wear it. Even if you are a slow and careful skier…what if some fast snowboarder comes flying over a hill and lands on your head?
The death of Natasha Richardson was really unexpected. There is nothing more disastrous than sustaining a brain injury. Brain injury is totally different from other injuries as it cannot be seen and treatment without seeing is really complicate. Most brain injury victims die due to negligence and unawareness. Brain injuries can be cured if proper treatment is given from the initial stage though it may take a long time. Besides brain injury has disastrous and long lasting effect on the patient.
brain training
If Natasha Richardson took the first ambulance, she may
be alive today. Many don’t reaize that the first hour is
critical. In other types of accidents, the first hour or so is
critical, why wouldn’t a fall be just as critical. Many under-
estimate the damage can be created in such a short time.
Many thought it was ridiculous, falling on a bunny trail skiing, and maybe more people will take it more seriously
now that at least another famous person died on a skiing trip. Sonny Bono was a while back in a down hill fall into a tree and he was a senator to California. I have had five myself, three were from autoaccidents, being mugged, and the last was a fall backwards on ice in my driveway.
It takes a while to recover, depending on the type of accident, some are much worse than others, but all are serious, and why wait and take the chance of dying.
Be smart out there, if you fall, have an accident, have it looked at. It could save your life within the first hour.
Be Safe out there!!!