MONT TREMBLANT , Quebec ( CNN ) -- Natasha Richardson came to Mont Tremblant ski resort in eastern Canada last month for what was supposed to be a skiing getaway . Actress Natasha Richardson died after suffering an epidural hematoma in a fall during a ski lesson . But what she may not have known is some doctors have been arguing that if a person here is in need of urgent care at a medical trauma center , he or she may not be able to get there fast enough . The only way to get to the closest trauma center from here is to drive 2½ hours to Montreal . No helicopter medical service is available . The Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail obtained 911 recordings from Monday , March 16 , when Richardson fell on a beginners slope on a sunny , clear day at the resort . The first request for help came in at 12:43 p.m. , an urgent call that a woman had fallen on the slopes . That woman was Richardson . Seventeen minutes later , at 1 p.m. , an ambulance arrived , but Richardson had been able to walk away from the fall and was headed back to her hotel room . Ten minutes later the ambulance was told to stand down , the call canceled . What Richardson could n't have known is that she suffered an epidural hematoma . It 's a condition where a blood clot forms between the skull and the outer layer of the brain . Too much pressure can cause brain damage and even death . Symptoms include dizziness , headaches and nausea . `` The person seems to be fine and walks it off , and that 's one of the problems with an injury such as this , '' said Dr. Liam Durkan , a neurologist with the Montreal Neurology Institute . `` Anytime there is any sort of process expanding in the skull , which is a closed space , once the symptoms are apparent , it can be a matter of 30 minutes to an hour to 90 minutes before there is a major deterioration . '' Two hours after her initial fall , while Richardson was back in her hotel room , she was feeling the symptoms . The clock was ticking and she needed to get to a trauma center fast . With the closest trauma center 2½ hours away , time may have been running out on her . It 's recommended that anyone with an epidural hematoma get to the trauma center within 30-90 minutes . At 2:59 p.m. , another ambulance was dispatched to the resort . This time , the paramedics went inside and worked on Richardson for 33 minutes before transporting her to the closest hospital an hour away , but it is not a trauma center . Inside the ambulance , Richardson drifted in and out of consciousness . `` It is a rapidly deteriorating situation and the distance might have been just too much by ambulance , road ambulance or air ambulance . It 's difficult to say , '' said Durkan , who did not treat Richardson . Depending on the severity of the injury at the time , he said , even helicopter services may have been too late . Some trauma doctors have argued for air transport here since the mid-1990s . They say the safest and fastest way to move anyone suffering a trauma injury such as Richardson 's is by helicopter . Helicopter transport is common practice in the United States and other areas of Canada . But in the Quebec region , very few places have access to air transport . In an open letter to the citizens of Quebec sent to the Montreal Gazette , Dr. Michael Churchill Smith , director of professional services at the Montreal General Hospital , said incidents like Natasha Richardson 's should serve as a wake-up call to Quebec . `` It is no longer morally acceptable for our citizens who , in the moment of their greatest needs , do not have access to a rapid transit system that gives them the best chance to not only survive , but to survive with a quality of life . '' Daniel LeFrancois , director of Quebec 's pre-hospital care , told the Gazette that cost is prohibitive when a one-hour flight costs $ 6,000 . It 's a question of resources and priorities focusing on `` the biggest gain for the biggest need , '' he said . Richardson was taken from Mont Tremblant to a hospital in St. Agathe , which does not have the facilities to help someone with a severe head trauma . Richardson was transferred to the trauma center in Montreal about 7 p.m. , more than six hours after her initial fall . Twenty-four hours later she was flown to a New York hospital , where she was taken off life support and died . No one can answer the question whether a helicopter service could have saved Richardson 's life . She refused services immediately after her fall , but with the clock ticking immediately after she felt symptoms from her injury , 2½ hours may have been too far away even if she 'd gotten help immediately .
Resort where Michael Jackson was injured is 2½-hour drive from the center . No helicopter medical services are available . With epidural hematoma , survival time without treatment is about 30 minutes . Some Canadian trauma experts have called for air ambulance since 1990s .