chain of command???

state of LA. my mother-in-law, while a patient in hospital recovering from auto accident (concussion) went from being alert to totally unresponsive in a matter of minutes. two family members were present at the time and they notified her nurse immediately. she had no explanation and said she would notify my mother-in-law's Dr. immediately. after about 15 minutes, with no one checking on her, the nurse was again reminded. she said she called the dr., who was at his office 2 blocks away, and he would come as soon as possible. more time went by and still no dr. ..after about 15 more minutes the nurse was approached again. same story. eventually, approx. after 45 minutes the dr. did show up. he had no explanation for her turn for the worse nor did he have an explanation as to what took him so long to get there. my question is this. this appeared to be a situation that called for immediate intervention. why didn't the nurse summon a dr. that was already at the hospital? why didn't the primary dr. instruct the nurse to summon a dr. that was already at the hospital?
to shorten the story they finally determined she had a stroke.
my mother-in-law is slowly recovering. but has a long way to go. could the hospital, nurse, or dr. be held liable? how do we tell if their delayed response contributed to her present condition? this all happened 6 weeks ago. for the record my mother-in-law is 55 years old.

[vrzirn]

Since she did not become comotose immediately following the accident it was not a sub-dural hematoma. I have to agree with the likelihood of a stroke. Evidently, a clot broke free and clogged a blood vessel. The event had occurred and there really is very little that could have been done that would have made much difference. Was she on any blood-thinners(Coumadin)?
Private doctors are very reluctant to interfere in the care of another doctor's patient. Given the litigous nature of patients and their relatives, they are fearful of suits should a "negative result" occur. They have enough worries with their own patients.
Perhaps her own doctor had another emergency that precluded him from an immediate response. You would have to ask him.

vrizm--i don't really know any more particulars about this, but i do appreciate your reply.
i guess it might just come down to the very sad litigous environment, just as you stated ,some professionals are exposed to day in and day out.
truly a sad commentary on a "civilized society."
thanks again..