<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The caffeine overdose death of an aspiring cancer researcher who waited more than seven hours for an ambulance was preventable, a coroner has found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Christina Lackmann, 32, died in her </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/melbourne" rel="" target="" title="Melbourne"><span>Melbourne</span></a><span> apartment in April 2021 after calling triple zero because she couldn't get off the floor and was feeling dizzy, light-headed and numb.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She died alone in her bathroom.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-protests-no-kings-rallies-celebrities-attend-across-usa/6d220a0f-a9c2-4bb3-89a3-1adab91c416b" target="_blank"><strong><span>Famous faces spotted at anti-Trump protests across US</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Coroner Catherine Fitzgerald has ruled in inquest findings that if she had been treated sooner, she likely would have survived.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Fitzgerald highlighted errors in the response to Lackmann's triple zero call, including being unable to transfer her call to a health practitioner for further assessment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She was categorised as a non-acute/non-urgent Code 3 which was deemed suitable for secondary clinical triage.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/womans-caffeine-death-blamed-on-ambulance-ramping/5b912282-e1d9-4c9c-b3dd-f2e04b7acb99" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At no time during the call did Lackmann disclose that she had taken caffeine tablets, or what had caused her symptoms.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She was told to keep her phone line free so she could be called back.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ambulance Victoria staff attempted to call her back 14 times and sent one text - but all attempts were left unanswered.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About an hour later, her call priority was upgraded to improve her chances of having an ambulance dispatched.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But two ambulances assigned to her were diverted to higher-priority cases.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Paramedics finally gained access to Lackmann's Caulfield North apartment shortly before 3am, seven hours and 11 minutes after her first triple-zero call.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She was pronounced dead soon after.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An email on Lackmann's phone found that an iHerb order of caffeine tablets had been delivered to her apartment the day she made the call for help.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite searches of the apartment, neither the tablets nor their packaging was found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In her written </span><a href="https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Form%2038%20-%20Christina%20Lackmann%20-%20Finding%20into%20Death%20without%20Inquest%20-%20COR%202021%20002035_Signed.pdf" rel="" target="" title="https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Form%2038%20-%20Christina%20Lackmann%20-%20Finding%20into%20Death%20without%20Inquest%20-%20COR%202021%20002035_Signed.pdf"><span>findings</span></a><span> handed down on Friday, Fitzgerald said a toxicological analysis of post-mortem blood samples and stomach contents identified the presence of caffeine at a very high and potentially fatal concentration.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine's chief toxicologist, Dimitri Gerostamoulos, explained that the concentration of caffeine detected in Lackmann's blood could not be achieved by drinking excessive amounts of coffee.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Associate Professor Narendra Gunja, a specialist medical practitioner in clinical and forensic toxicology, said caffeine overdoses can become deadly within eight hours of ingestion.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He added if Lackmann had been hospitalised soon after her triple zero call it's likely she would have been asked about what she had taken and in turn be treated appropriately.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/tasmania-news-police-officer-hurt-reported-shooting-north-motton/8f60ae28-e15e-442f-9756-171f22b7d1bc" target="_blank"><strong><span>Police officer killed in shooting at rural Tasmania property</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said it was likely she would have survived the overdose, but said it was difficult to pinpoint an exact time of when her death was preventable because so little was known about when and how much caffeine Lackmann had ingested.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The coroner was damning of Ambulance Victoria's failure to provide care to Lackmann, describing the wait time as "unacceptable" - as more than 80 per cent of their fleet was ramped at major hospitals and unable to respond to emergencies on the night she died.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ambulance Victoria undertook an internal review and has made changes to its systems.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It is working with the health department to reduce ambulance ramping, which involves paramedics being forced to wait to offload patients outside overcrowded emergency departments.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Victoria's statewide benchmark is for 90 per cent of ambulance patients to be transferred to emergency care within 40 minutes of arrival.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, latest statewide data showed 69.6 per cent of ambulance patients were admitted to an emergency department within 40 minutes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The median wait time in March was 26 minutes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hospitals have been required to deliver a four per cent improvement in ambulance offload times by the end of June under emergency department standards to reduce ramping.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></a><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><strong><span>Apple App Store</span></strong></a><span> </span><strong><span>and</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1"><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></a><strong><span>.</span></strong></div></div>