'Thunderstorm asthma' death toll climbs to four
A fourth person has died following a Melbourne storm that triggered a deadly health epidemic dubbed 'thunderstorm asthma'.
Father-of-two Clarence Leo died in the early hours of Tuesday after suffering an asthma attack, according to his colleague and Club Pandora manager Danny Saddoo.
"He had an asthma attack and there was nothing that could be done," Mr Saddoo told AAP.
"There wouldn't have been time for an ambulance to get to him."
A Department of Health spokesman said he was unable to give a running tally on the number of people who had died following Monday's rare phenomenon that led to an unprecedented 1900 emergency calls in five hours.
At one point there were 140 code one cases occurring at the same time.
"We are aware of a number of deaths that may or may not be linked to the asthma thunderstorm on Monday night," the spokesman told AAP.
The three others who died following the storm were 35-year-old man Apollo Papadopoulos, 20-year-old Hope Carnevali and 18-year-old Omar Moujalled.
A number of patients remain in intensive care and one person is critical, Health Minister Jill Hennessy told reporters on Wednesday.
Ambulance Victoria confirmed on Wednesday three people had died during the weather event but was unable to confirm reports of a fourth death.
Friends of Mr Papadopoulos paid tribute to him on Facebook, with one writing that he "passed away from an asthma attack" after paramedics worked to revive him for 50 minutes.
Hope's uncle, John Carnevali, told 3AW: "We don't blame the paramedics because they do a fantastic job.
"It's just that the system needs to be changed ... to let people know, if they can't get there in a certain time and they think it's pretty bad, drive yourself to hospital if possible."
He said if Hope's family had been told there could be a wait of 30 minutes or longer, they'd have driven her to Werribee hospital, which was less than 10 minutes away.
Friends and family of Omar attended his funeral at the Meadow Heights Mosque on Wednesday, the day he was supposed to graduate from year 12 at the Australian International Academy.
The academy issued a statement on Facebook, informing the school community of Omar's death with "great sadness and a heavy heart.
"Omar was an exemplary student, role model and principled, who was previously part of the captaincy team, and a much loved, respected student," it said.
Ms Hennessy said there'll be a wide-ranging review of the storm and its health impacts with the government hoping to better predict future events.
The review by the Inspector-General for Emergency Management into how Ambulance Victoria and all emergency services responded will examine how the community was informed of the unfolding crisis, including Mr Carnevali's suggestion regarding better advice on ambulance response times.
Ambulance Victoria will also conduct an internal review.
