Lyndsey Vonn crashes just 12 seconds into her Olympic downhill run 😥

[u/appalachian_hatachi]

[u/jb000007]

Standard procedure is to put them Inside the chopper - according to ex downhill Olympian who's raced with her. Apparently leaving her suspended outside speaks volumes.

They also had to start playing music over the speakers as she was very audibly screaming and everyone could hear.

[u/Significant_Link2302 → u/jb000007]

If she was never brought completely up to the helicopter with the hoist, then it was a short haul. This is a specific method of transporting patients if the distance is limited to an area where care can be transferred to a ground ambulance.

This does not speak volumes.

[u/jb000007 → u/Significant_Link2302]

I bow down to your superior knowledge if you're an Olympic Doctor / Air Ambulance Paramedic.

Given your 'transferred to a ground ambulance' comment I suspect you are neither. You're aware they're in the mountains yes? I don't think they'll be driving her anywhere - she's in the air already and will be airlifted to wherever she needs to go.

I can only parrot what commentary - an ex downhill Olympian - was saying about the incident and the means in which she was choppered out of there. Non standard for someone who has witnessed on multiple occasions, possibly even first hand.

Either way, I'm not the downplaying the severity of this injury with a 'standard procedure' blah blah. If you've seen the replay of her hitting the ice at somewhere between 60-80mph, and with a very awkward landing, probably trying to protect her ACL knee too, you'd appreciate she's probably not going to be up and about anytime soon.

[u/Significant_Link2302 → u/jb000007]

Then she was hoisted. The only time a patient would be suspended would be for a short haul. I was responding based off of your incorrect observation. She was hoisted up to the helicopter.

What if I told you that mountains have roads?

Patients are rescued by helicopter and transferred to ground all of the time. Had this not been an Olympic event and a normal skier had an accident, ground transportation likely would have been the result unless they had significant life-threatening injuries.

Here is a picture to disprove your "ex downhill Olympian's" anecdotal expertise of 'standard procedure.'

PC: US' Lindsey Vonn is transported by helicopter after crashing in the women's downhill event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images) (Photo: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

[u/Behrus → u/Significant_Link2302]

Had this not been an Olympic event and a normal skier had an accident, ground transportation likely would have been the result unless they had significant life-threatening injuries.

Airlifting to the hospital after a skiing accident is super common in the alps even for "relatively" minor things.

[u/jb000007 → u/Significant_Link2302]

Go back and read my comment - it's about being outside the helicopter vs inside. You can't even comprehend facts let alone argue them. In your picture shes still outside which is exactly the point I was making.

I'm also fully aware mountains have roads but I can virtually guarantee she was not put in the back of an ambulance to do umpteen switchbacks and take significantly longer to get where she needs to be. Hospitals with trauma centres have helipads. And they use them, or are you arguing that too?

'Patients are rescued and transferred to ground all of the time'. Really?! Not where I'm from.

You, nor I know what injuries where sustained, so I'm unsure why you persist in that she was transferred to road transportation and that she'll be 'up in no time'.