Deceased
Leonard Norman Harkin
Demographics
51y, male
Date of death
2003-06-20
Finding date
2006-11-16
Cause of death
ischaemic heart disease
AI-generated summary
A 51-year-old prisoner died from ischaemic heart disease after suffering a cardiac event while being transferred between prison units. He had complained of chest pain to correctional officers, was directed to walk to the medical centre, and collapsed shortly after arrival. Nurse Long initiated CPR appropriately and paramedics continued resuscitation efforts without success. Prior cardiac investigations including stress testing had been negative. Expert review found the care provided was reasonable and appropriate given the clinical presentation. The main clinical lesson concerns the decision to have a symptomatic patient walk (over 164m, partly uphill) to medical assessment rather than using wheelchair transport for prisoners with chest pain, which the coroner recommended be implemented.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
29y · Male·Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy and multi-organ failure due to out of hospital …
Wayne Fella Morrison, a 29-year-old Aboriginal man with undiagnosed coronary artery disease (70% stenosis of right coronary artery), died following cardiac arrest during his detention at Yatala Labour Prison. After attac…
79y · Male·Iatrogenic right ventricular injury complicating drainage of pericardial collect…
A 79-year-old man died from iatrogenic right ventricular injury sustained during attempted drainage of a post-operative pericardial effusion following coronary artery bypass grafting. During a minimally invasive sub-xiph…
46y · Male·congestive cardiac failure due to cardiomyopathy and coronary artery atheroscler…
A 46-year-old man with significant cardiac and medical comorbidities died of congestive cardiac failure due to cardiomyopathy and coronary artery atherosclerosis while in police custody. He was correctly categorized as H…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. Some material may have been redacted or restricted by court order or privacy requirements. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction — report an inaccuracy here.