Second-Guessing Lingers After Richardson's Death

Doctors in Quebec, where Natasha Richardson took her fatal ski-slope tumble, have been arguing since the 1990s for emergency air transport that might have saved her life, CNN reports. Care was delayed not only by the slow manifestation of symptoms from the epidural hematoma she suffered, but also by the lack of helicopter transport. She did not arrive at a qualified hospital until 6 hours after the accident.

“It is no longer morally acceptable for our citizens,” a Montreal doctor said, to “not have access to a rapid transit system that gives them the best chance” of survival. But given the peculiarity of Richardson’s injury, even faster transport might not have saved her. “It is a rapidly deteriorating situation and the distance might have been just too much” even by helicopter, another doctor said. “It's difficult to say.” (More helicopter stories.)