Deceased
Hayden William Childs
Demographics
77y, male
Date of death
2006-06-17
Finding date
2009-10-16
Cause of death
hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy and cerebral infarction due to upper airway obstruction by foreign body (handkerchief) with contributing right lower lobe suppurative bronchopneumonia, cardiomegaly and dementia
AI-generated summary
A 77-year-old man with advanced dementia died from hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy caused by upper airway obstruction from a handkerchief. An agency carer placed a handkerchief in his breast pocket during morning care, unaware of his known propensity to place objects in his mouth. The handkerchief migrated into his airway by late evening. Nursing staff performed suctioning with a hard plastic device, which compressed the handkerchief further into the airway, causing complete obstruction and severe hypoxia. The death was preventable through: proper communication of at-risk behaviours to agency staff via prominent care plan documentation; removal of potentially harmful items from the resident's wardrobe; and visualization of the airway before suctioning. The nursing home's care plan inadequately highlighted this critical choking risk, and agency staff were not required to review it.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Clinical conditions
Procedures
85y · Male·Sepsis due to Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia due to septic arthritis of left …
An 85-year-old man died in custody from sepsis due to Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia arising from septic arthritis of the left shoulder, on a background of congestive heart failure. While receiving generally adequate …
88y · Female·Acute on chronic renal failure due to dehydration on a background of Lewy body d…
An 88-year-old woman with Lewy body dementia, Parkinson's disease and congestive cardiac failure died from acute kidney injury precipitated by severe dehydration in aged care. June 2020 blood tests showed mild hypernatra…
89y · Female·acute-on-chronic renal failure on a background of ischaemic heart disease, hyper…
An 89-year-old Aboriginal woman with chronic renal impairment and congestive cardiac failure was prescribed gentamicin intramuscularly for a urinary tract infection caused by Klebsiella aerogenes. Gentamicin is nephrotox…
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.