Finding into death of Damien Marius Van Der Korput
Deceased
Damien Marius VAN DER KORPUT
Demographics
50y, male
Date of death
2014-12-24
Finding date
2016-10-04
Cause of death
Hypoxic ischaemic brain injury in the context of hanging
AI-generated summary
A 50-year-old man with longstanding depression, anxiety, and ADHD died by hanging after an acute deterioration in mental state. He had previous psychiatric admission in 2012 for suicidality and was under regular psychiatric care. On the night of death, following alcohol consumption and marital argument, he threatened self-harm multiple times before hanging himself in the garage. Despite immediate resuscitation and hospital treatment, he suffered severe hypoxic ischaemic brain injury and died four days later. Clinical lessons include the importance of assessing imminent suicide risk in patients with depression, substance use, and relationship conflict, especially after recent psychiatric contact. The coroner identified a system issue: inconsistency between police and ambulance emergency call protocols regarding instructions to cut down hanging victims, which may have delayed appropriate pre-arrival guidance.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- depression and anxiety
- ADHD
- alcohol consumption
- marital conflict and relationship issues
- history of suicidal threats
- impulsive personality traits
- recent psychiatric deterioration
- inadequate pre-arrival emergency instructions
Coroner's recommendations
- The Victoria Police structured call taking manual and ESTA's structured ProQA protocol be reviewed, and where appropriate amended, in order to ensure their workflow procedures reflect a consistent approach in post-dispatch instructions for hanging victims.
Full text
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