She fell Monday evening so if the only damage was to her jaw (which is remarkable and lucky) then it's not that surprising that she would have been released by end of day Tuesday or Wednesday. At her age the jaw is still malleable so hopefully she will have a full recovery.
From an EMS perspective, the issue is not the fracture itself, but the forces required to cause the fracture and the damage those forces might cause when applied to other parts of the body...especially internal organs. Also, if she took a blow to the head strong enough to fracture her jaw, you have to suspect neck or spine injury. The obvious stuff is not usually the greatest threat to the patient; it's the stuff you can't see.
Also, we only have only one unofficial report that she fractured her jaw, nothing else. First of all, anyone who had
actual knowledge of her injuries would not talk about them because of legal and ethical considerations. And secondly, the idea of a fractured jaw and nothing else makes no sense medically.
If the girl fell from 30-35 feet, and didn't encounter anything during the fall that would slow her momentum, you have to suspect serious internal injury. That suspicion, I'm sure, is why the medics airlifted her to a trauma center despite the fact that she was reportedly alert and responsive after the fall.
In cases like this, the media's general rule is: "If it bleeds, it leads." And that's especially true if something bad happens at Disney. The fact that we have not had any follow-up stories gives me hope that the girl will be okay. If she were in bad shape, we would have heard about it.
