By DANE LILLINGSTONE
THE four-day inquest into the death of 17-year-old Jasmyn Carter concluded last week, with coroner John Lock now responsible for assessing the findings.
It was heard in the inquest that the initial doctor’s prognosis and subsequent updates revealed they did not believe they were dealing with anything serious until it was too late.
Jasmyn was admitted to Warwick Hospital on the afternoon of August 3 last year. She complained of headaches and dizziness, and died early the next morning.
She told medical staff that she had experienced flu-like symptoms for the four weeks prior to her admission to hospital. Under initial examinations she displayed no respiratory distress, and her blood test results appeared normal.
Dr Andrew Hughes was the senior doctor when she was admitted and acknowledged that he was still unsure if he would treat the case any differently given the same circumstances today.
However he did admit that he could have been more diligent with his instructions to the nursing staff.
It was a particularly busy day when Jasmyn was admitted and Dr Hughes was dealing with another emergency at the time.
He did not specify the frequency of observations on her medical chart to nursing staff.
Due to low blood pressure, Dr Hughes prescribed fluids and by 6pm JAsmyn was ordered to the ward for observation.
At 8.15pm the nurse noted that her blood pressure had reached 77 over 41. The doctor then prescribed more fluids, believing she was suffering from a viral infection.
Later that night a nurse informed Dr Hughes that Jasmyn was having trouble breathing and that a purple rash had appeared. He then realised they were dealing with meningococcal.
He then went to the emergency ward where he was joined by another doctor and nursing staff. In the inquest he said that he believed at that time it was already too late. Sometime after she went into respiratory arrest, where medical staff applied advanced life support measures that ultimately failed.
Jasmyn was pronounced dead at 3.27am on 4 August.
The inquest also investigated 86-year-old Verris Wright and her death from septic shock after being discharged from Oakey Hospital.
Coroner John Lock will now examine the circumstances surrounding her death, with his findings and recommendations to be presented.
