Deceased
Minh Thao La
Demographics
48y, male
Coroner
Deputy State Coroner Paresa Spanos
Date of death
2016-11-26
Finding date
2018-11-09
Cause of death
hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, complicating cardiac arrest in the setting of asthma
AI-generated summary
A 48-year-old man with known asthma and high sensitivity to rye grass pollen died from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy following cardiac arrest during the November 2016 Melbourne thunderstorm asthma epidemic. He became acutely unwell at 7:20 pm with severe respiratory distress, family called '000' immediately and performed CPR. Ambulance response was timely in unprecedented circumstances; however, he sustained severe hypoxic brain injury and died 5 days later. Clinical lessons include: all asthmatics need written action plans and appropriate preventer medications (not just reliever); hay fever sufferers warrant allergy testing and preventive therapy; those at risk should remain indoors during TA warnings. The coroner noted his lack of documented asthma management plan, sub-optimal preventer use, and no documented hay fever treatment despite post-mortem evidence of high rye grass sensitisation.
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
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Elizabeth Ferris, a 44-year-old woman with schizoaffective disorder and polysubstance use disorder, died from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy following cardiac arrest in the setting of presumed drug toxicity. She was fo…
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