He went into cardiac arrest. "But the source of that infection was never confirmed, as I understandbecause an autopsy was not performed. So what went wrong? Ms Murphy also told the inquest that there was about a 10-minutewait in the emergency department from the time Alex came to the triage window to when he was looked at by her, as she was busy triaging another patient. Alex was given a triage category of three, meaning the patient must see a doctor within 30 minutes. "I remember thinking that I wished I would have the same relationship with my children when they grew up. "One of the things that really stood out for me when I saw you that night was how sweetly you and Alex treated one another," he said. Murdaugh, 54, faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murdering his wife and son near dog kennels at the family's Colleton County home on June 7, 2021. Alex Braes. Ms Edwards said it is a NSW Health policy that hospitals check vital signs before discharging a patient from emergency. There was an "extraordinary lack" of progress between NSW Health and SA Health in establishing a formalized cross-border arrangement to transfer critically-ill patients from Broken Hill to Adelaide, Ryan said. The "first and only option" available to a specialist doctor treating a gravely ill teenager in a country hospital was to fly him elsewhere, a coroner has been told. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. Alex Braes, 18, died on 22 September 2017 from multi-organ failure due to sepsis from a Group A streptococcus infection. Our Morning Edition newsletter is a curated guide to the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Alex Braes, of Broken Hill, died in the early hours of Sept. 22, 2017, upon arriving at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, 7News.com.au reported. Watch Louise Milligan's investigation on iview. 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Now she believes she's being penalised, Australia loses first wicket on day two but still on top in Indore, ADF aircraft, personnel to assist evacuation of hundreds from flooded NT remote communities, Rajwinder Singh expected to be charged with murder of Cairns woman Toyah Cordingley tonight, police say, Watch Australia's economic challenges unfold in five graphs, 'Weight of the dead on my shoulders': Academic breaks down at gay hate deaths inquiry, Girl's thumb replaced with toe after gruesome surgical error, Half-marathon runner dies after broken leg misdiagnosed three times. "A significant one was the failure on September 20, 2017, to perform vital signs observations," Ms Ryan said. Dr Kerrie MacDonald is a paediatrician who used to work at Broken Hill Hospital and is still in the NSW health system. ", ABC Broken Hillwill deliver a wrap of the week's news, stories and photos every Friday. Alex Braes died at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney on September 22, 2017, after being transferred from Broken Hill Hospital. Mr Braes told the inquest that even once Alex became gravely ill, there was no ambulance available to take him to Broken Hill Hospital, no hospitals willing to admit him in Adelaide and no pilot available to fly him to Sydney. One matter consistently raised throughout the week's proceedings was a business rule then in place at Broken Hill Hospital when Mr Braes presented there four times in September 2017. Doctors, who failed to check the vital signs of a teen who died from sepsis, are not responsible for the tragedy, according to a coroner who says they were prevented from doing so under a hospital business rule. Please note: Justifiably outraged at the poor care of his son, John Braes. 7 (PDF, 113.1 KB), Coffs Harbour Local Court, 2-16 Beryl St, Coffs Harbour 2450, Before her Honour Magistrate Forbes, Deputy State Coroner, Forensic Medicine and Coroners Court Complex, 1A Main Ave, Lidcombe, Before his Honour Magistrate Lee, Deputy State Coroner, Forensic and Coroners Court Complex, 1A Main Ave, Lidcombe, Inquest into the Death of A.W. Alex's father called triple zero to ask an ambulance to take his son to hospital, but no ambulance was available. If they had flown Mr Braes down to Adelaide, the only available pilot would not have been able to return, as their allowed time would have expired. Sign up here. The veteran clinician and patient-retrieval specialist, who has 36 years' experience, said he believed, inhindsight and now that he was "aware of the outcome", that there were a number of "ifs" including if Mr Braes had been takento Adelaide instead of Sydney. Local hearings took place at the Broken Hill Coroner's Court this week, with a number of doctors and nurses who attended to Alex at Broken Hill Hospital appearing as witnesses alongside the teenager's father, John Braes. Copyright 2023 IBTimes LLC. One of them, DrAli Baalbaki, told the inquest he longer celebratedhis own birthday because it falls on the same day he reviewed the teenager. Download the ABC News app for all the latest. The group of jurors who will decide Alex Murdaugh's fate visited on Wednesday morning the sprawling Islandton, South Carolina, property where the defendant's wife and son were found fatally shot . The following month he began to experience pain in his knee. A traumatised doctor has broken down in tears at an inquest, reflecting on how a relatively well teenager was joking with his father the night before his sudden death. Alex arrived at Broken Hill Hospital's emergency department. "A young man who died, essentially, from an infected toenail, from the consequences of an untreated and very common infection. Alex Braes died at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital after going to another hospital four times. Alex Braes (Credit: ABC "Four Corners," family photograph) The death has traumatised Braes' family and hospital staff alike. In conjunction with the Chief Coroner, the Judicial College delivers a varied training programme for all coroners involving induction, continuation and one-day training on specific topics. Ryan also outlined major delays in transferring Braes to the Sydney hospital where he died in the early hours of 22 September 2017, after he was refused admission at a South Australian tertiary facility due to a policy preventing interstate transfers. Alex's father managed to bundle his six-foot-three son into the family's car and drive for a fourth time to the emergency department. Broken Hill teenager Alex Braes' parents remember him as a ray of sunshine, a funny and smart . April 21, 2021 - 11:05AM The doctor tasked with taking care of Alex Braes after he presented to a country NSW emergency department in the middle of the night in 2017 has addressed the teenager's heartbroken family. In lieu of an autopsy, a panel of . Labor set a superannuation trap and Dutton immediatelytook the bait, Here's what the super tax changes might mean for you, NT Labor candidate confirms involvement in fatal car crash that led to conviction of driving without due care, Freya is one of 15,000 Australians who must find a new life-saving medication or pay a much higher price, Man who murdered Jay Brogden convicted of contempt of court, Live: Australia loses first wicket on day two but still on top in Indore. Alex Braes, 18, died at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital about 46 hours after limping into Broken Hill Base Hospital at 3am on September 20, 2017. "It is entirely possible that Alex had a severe cellulitis without reaching the threshold of necrotising fasciitis, which led to his bloodstream infection and sepsis.". For legal cases involving intentional or accidental death and for insurance claims, The Records Company retrieves coroner's reports and autopsy reports. He told the inquest though, that on the balance of probabilities, Alex most likely had necrotising fasciitis. The 18-year-old died about 1am on 22 September soon after landing in Sydney after a prolonged effort to evacuate him from Broken Hill. Dr O'Donohoe spoke to the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Broken Hill. Coroner's report into the death of Amy Robsart, August 1561 (KB 9/1073/f.80) For all that she liked to keep foreign suitors in play, Elizabeth was already deeply in love with her Master of Horse, Robert Dudley. "What I do know is it was not a satisfactory outcome and that's why when I heard about it from the doctors, I had the ministry go back out there, go through it, and determine why this had been downgraded," he said. The inquest heard that the rule stated, in effect, that 'clinical observations of a patient should only be taken if vital signs influenced the assigned triage category a patient had been given.'. Laws governing each of these documents and their contents vary from state to state. Alex Braes. In a statement, the FarWest Local Health District said it expressedits deepest sympathies to the family of Mr Braes and acknowledgedthe heartache caused by his death. Doctors, who failed to check the vital signs of a teen who died from sepsis, are not responsible for the tragedy, according to a coroner who says they were prevented from doing so under a hospital "business rule". Alex died in the early hours of September 22, 2017, at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, after being transferred from his local hospital. In lieu of an autopsy, a panel of experts . Broken Hill staff had missed something, but still, no-one did proper observations of Alex. All rights reserved. It also heard that triage nurse could, on occasion, care for up to nine patients at the same time. Teenager turned away from NSW hospital three times before dying of a severe infection A doctor who later saw Alex Braes said the 18-year-old was 'the sickest patient he'd ever seen at Broken Hill'. Alex and his father were told to go home and come back later. After arriving at Broken Hill base hospital on 21 September, Braes was put in a non-acute bed. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. In the Sydney metropolitan area, coronial matters are always handled by the State Coroner and Deputy State Coroners (senior coroners) situated at the Lidcombe Forensic Medicine and Coroners Court Complex. The hospital at the time had a policy running contrary to a NSW Health mandate that allowed staff to send patients home without taking a full set of vital signs. Braes was in "excruciating pain" and was described by one doctor as "the sickest patient the hospital had ever seen" by the time he visited the hospital for the third time, according to the outlet. Representation. Alex Braes, 18, died at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital nearly 46 hours after limping into Broken Hill Base Hospital at 3am on September 20, 2017. Ms Sullivan then asked whether the rule was dropped as a direct result of Alex passing away. It was far too late. Again, no-one checked Alex's vital signs. A doctor who later saw Alex Braes said the 18-year-old was 'the sickest patient he'd ever seen at Broken Hill' hospital. Max McLean was the after-hours nurse manager at Broken Hill. In her comments before delivering the findings,Ms Ryan was critical of abusiness rulethat was then inplace at Broken Hill Hospital which effectively discouraged nursesfrom taking vital signs observations. Tragically, what worked against Mr Braeswas his overall health and age, the inquest heard. This resulted in Braes' parents being denied a formal investigation "for an inexcusable length of time," Ryan said. The inquest also heard the Broken Hill hospital is prevented from transferring patients to Adelaide, despite the SA capital being closer than Sydney. After his ultrasound, he expected a doctor to review his results but the emergency department was so busy, no-one could see him. It would eventually take a whole year for an investigation to be done and that only happened because the doctors repeatedly lobbied the Ministry of Health and, ultimately, wrote to NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, to intervene. "To the extentthere were deficiencies in your clinical practice, do you think one cause was you feeling under time pressure? Dr Greenberg explained to the inquestthat the situation was the same in Dubbo, where the pilot's hours had also expired. Mr McLean says staff had to provide life support before Alex could be put on the plane. The 18-year-old died about 1am on September 22 soon after landing in Sydney after a prolonged effort to evacuate him from Broken Hill. His wife was left sitting on the tarmac of Broken Hill Airport for hours waiting for a plane to come from Sydney to retrieve their 18-year-old dying son. 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