Skier evacuated from Canadian Rockies, where her knee injury was misdiagnosed

When ski season comes, the phones at our Boston Operations Center ring a little more frequently. Ski accidents resulting in broken bones are reason for serious concern in any country – even in Canada, as one event over the holidays showed.

Just before the holiday break, an 18-year-old American skier in British Columbia crashed and badly injured her right knee. She was taken off the mountain via ambulance to a clinic in the Canadian Rockies, and her coach contacted Global Rescue.

Doctors at the modestly equipped facility diagnosed a type of fracture that the attending orthopedic surgeon assigned to her case believed required surgery within 24 hours. Global Rescue personnel relayed the information to specialists at Johns Hopkins, who confirmed that she should be operated on immediately for that specific injury. Global Rescue organized a first-class flight to her home airport in Boston, departing immediately.

Upon landing in Boston, she was further evaluated at the airport by our medical team and cleared for the two hour ground transport to her hospital of choice. There, she was administered an MRI to check the diagnosis, and doctors realized that in fact she had a different injury, a tibial plateau fracture.

She underwent surgery the next day. A follow-up call to her parents this week revealed that she was recovering nicely, and looking forward to resuming her skiing career in college as soon as her leg heals.