Áras Attracta resident choked on piece of meat

Anton McNulty

AN accidental-death verdict was recorded at the inquest of a resident of Áras Attracta who died after choking on a piece of meat in the care centre.
Una McGing, a 52-year-old resident of Áras Attracta died when she choked on a piece of meat she took from the kitchen of the bungalow she was residing in on May 8 last.
The inquest, held in Swinford, heard that there was no issue regarding her care in Áras Attracta, and the coroner, Patrick O’Connor, recorded a verdict of accidental death.
“This could have happened to anyone … There was no way it could have been prevented,” Mr O’Connor said.
The inquest heard evidence from staff nurse, Mary Coughlan, who explained that she was on duty at 8.30pm and was getting ready to give supper to the residents. She said that Ms McGing was ‘over and back’ looking for more food after her supper and had a tendency to go to the fridge in the kitchen looking for food.
Ms Coughlan explained for this reason she put her sitting in her chair and put her headphones on with music. However, Ms McGing spilled juice on herself, and they decided to get her ready for bed.
When she was getting her room ready, she said she returned to see Ms McGing in distress and noted she was choking. She performed the Heimlich manoeuvre to try to dislodge the food caught in her throat but was unable to do so. She then performed CPR and gave Ms McGing oxygen. The emergency services were called, and they took over when they arrived.  Ms McGing was pronounced dead at 10.25pm.
Pamela Kelly, a Health Care Assistant in Áras Attracta told the inquest that Ms McGing had come into the kitchen, and she had given her some salad. She said that when Ms McGing later returned to the fridge again, she was given juice.
When Ms McGing started to choke, Ms Kelly pulled the panic alert alarm, rang 999 and went to the neighbouring bungalow to get help.
Dr Tomas Nemeth, Consultant Pathologist, told the inquest that the postmortem discovered that a piece of meat measuring 5x3cm was found in her larynx. He said the cause of death was choking due to food compaction in the larynx, commonly known as a ‘café coronary’.
Mr O’Connor recorded a verdict of accidental death and expressed his sympathy to Ms McGing’s sister, Mary O’Hara, who was present at the inquest. He also complimented the staff who tried to do what they could to save Ms McGing from choking.