To partially answer some of the questions from above, and shed some light on this very sad situation-
Coma is a loosely defined term as used by the media. What you have to understand (and I don't really know about any specifics about her injury, including someone saying that she had CPR for a period of time) is that head injuries are very hard to treat and evaluate. Its not like stopping bleeding with some stitches or something. Sometimes its hard to even see with x-rays and other imaging what if anything had happened to the brain.
What happens in a situation like this is usually a variation of the following.
-The patient injures themselves, usually from the head taking a blow with something, although not always. Sometimes the force involved in a sudden change of direction (i.e. whiplash, especially in the elderly) can cause the brain to impact the inside of the skull, causing an injury exactly the same to one where the head hits something. Sometimes its a significant impact, other times it can be a minor mechanism that really hurts someone, like falling from a standing height.
-They usually right off of the bat have an altered level of consciousness. Meaning not appropriately awake. There are various methods of measuring consciousness that medical crews use. For them to fly her out of the mountain, she was more than likely significantly altered.
-This is where it gets funny. The measurements of consciousness are rudimentary as far as predicting the severity of the actual injury, or the prognosis of the injury. However, they have some bearing. There is a threshold that gets crossed (with how altered a person is) eventually where someone gets intubated however, and that indicates that the injury was significant. The point of intubation is to "protect" the patient's airway. Having the tube in the windpipe keeps the patient breathing effectively (through a ventilator) and helps prevent choking, things that a brain injured person would not be able to do for themselves.
-To be intubated, you generally need some sedation, as its an irritating thing to have the tube in your throat, even if you are unconscious. So doctors will give a continuous infusion of medicine that keeps you asleep, similar/same agents used by anesthesiologists when they put you to sleep in an OR. These also do double duty for helping the injured person heal through rest. However, when a person is being chemically sedated, their neurological status cannot be effectively evaluated, compounding the difficulty of assessing the persons degree of injury or impairment. It can be a couple of days with these medicines, or sometimes much much longer. The process for removal of the tube and sedation agents and all the other supportive care is much more complicated and multifactoral, and frankly well above my pay grade.
Hope that clears up some questions, and best of luck Sarah.
