Finding into death of Miriam Ralph
Deceased
Miriam Ralph
Demographics
49y, female
Date of death
2014-05-09
Finding date
2016-04-14
Cause of death
Unascertained (natural)
AI-generated summary
Miriam Ralph, a 49-year-old woman with intellectual disability, bipolar disorder, Parkinson's disease, and asthma, died at a disability services facility following a choking episode and acute respiratory distress. She had recently been hospitalized for serious injuries from a motor vehicle accident (fractured ribs, pneumothorax, fractured pelvis) and experienced breathing difficulties during her hospital stay. On the day of death, after eating a sandwich, she developed coughing and requested her Ventolin inhaler. Four staff members provided first aid, called an ambulance, and commenced CPR. Despite resuscitation attempts by paramedics, she died. The cause was determined as unascertained natural causes. Key clinical lesson: staff appropriately recognized respiratory distress and initiated timely emergency response including CPR and ambulance call. The case highlights importance of maintaining accessibility of rescue medications and ensuring all carers are trained in first aid for at-risk populations.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Contributing factors
- recent motor vehicle accident with serious injuries
- recent hospitalization with post-injury complications
- history of breathing difficulties and shortness of breath
- possible choking episode
- asthma and respiratory vulnerability
Full text
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. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. 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 —