Reply #20: She was acting "normal" in the opinion of non-medical personnel.

[pnwmom]

Someone at the resort turned away the medics who arrived with the first ambulance, which was a big mistake IMHO. They should have had a chance to speak with her and to try to persuade her to accept treatment. They would have been much more likely to pick up the subtle signs of a head injury than the university student/ski instructor who was with her -- and much more likely to have been able to convince her that she needed to go to the hospital ASAP.

Here, in a rural area, it would all depend on the situation. At a ski resort with access to medics, the medics would call for the medivac -- which would most likely take a head-injury patient not to the closest hospital, but directly to the closest trauma center.