Student's fatal caffeine overdose initially dismissed as vertigo
Christina Lackmann, a 32-year-old biomedical science student from Australia, died in April 2021 from a caffeine overdose at her home after a nearly seven-hour wait for an ambulance.
Lackmann called emergency services, feeling dizzy and numb, but her call was categorised as non-urgent as the emergency services operator believed it was a case of vertigo, leading to significant delays in medical assistance.
Paramedics were assigned to her twice but were redirected to higher-priority emergencies, resulting in her being found dead in her bathroom hours after her initial call.
A toxicology report confirmed lethal levels of caffeine in her system, and the coroner concluded her death was a consequence of ingesting caffeine tablets.
An expert stated Lackmann likely would have survived with timely treatment if emergency services had inquired about medication, and the ambulance response was deemed an excessive and unacceptable delay.
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