Inquest into the Death of Cally GRAHAM
Deceased
Cally GRAHAM
Demographics
31y, female
Date of death
2017-02-26
Finding date
2023-01-31
Cause of death
hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, bronchopneumonia and myocardial ischaemia complicating a cardiorespiratory arrest in association with probable Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and methylamphetamine effect
AI-generated summary
Cally Graham, age 31, died from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, bronchopneumonia and myocardial ischaemia complicating cardiorespiratory arrest associated with probable Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and methylamphetamine effect. She collapsed in her cell at Melaleuca Prison approximately 12 hours after arrival. Key clinical lessons: (1) The prison failed to process her medication (Lyrica/pregabalin) during admission; (2) Medical information provided to custodial staff was not communicated to nursing staff, preventing awareness of her claimed seizure disorder; (3) Critical oxygen equipment failure—a non-functioning oxygen tank significantly delayed ventilation despite protocols requiring it; (4) Her cellmate, an enrolled nurse, provided unprotected CPR rescue breaths for ~13 minutes, which likely prevented worse outcomes but should never be standard practice. While her prognosis was extremely poor from cardiac collapse, equipment failures fell below acceptable standards for custodial healthcare.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- methylamphetamine exposure contributing to cardiac dysfunction
- probable Takotsubo cardiomyopathy
- failure to have functioning oxygen equipment available during CPR
- delay of ~8 minutes in obtaining oxygen tank after Code Red called
- fragmented communication of medical information between custodial and nursing staff at admission
- medication (Lyrica/pregabalin) not processed during reception intake
- inconsistent information regarding claimed seizure disorder not escalated
- absence of protected respiratory equipment (masks) for staff to provide rescue breaths
Coroner's recommendations
- Department of Justice should give consideration to the development, adoption and promulgation of a post-incident care policy for prisoners involved in or affected by critical incidents, including debriefing, medical review, and psychological support
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