‘It will happen again’: Paramedic says broken system cost 20 crucial minutes getting to Torquay boy Joshua Ruff

A paramedic says a broken call system cost her 20 crucial minutes responding to an asthma attack that took the life of a Torquay boy. Joshua Ruff’s mother has also spoken about the devastating day she lost her “beautiful” son.

Eleven-year-old Josh Ruff. Picture: Supplied

A paramedic says a broken call system cost her 20 crucial minutes responding to an asthma attack that took the life of a Torquay boy. And she’s warned “it will happen again” if things don’t change.

Deb Baumgartner, a Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedic based in Leopold, was returning to Geelong hospital from a low-priority job in Norlane shortly after 7pm on March 9, 2022 when staff at the hospital began yelling at her.

“They were just screaming at us to leave,” Ms Baumgartner said.

“They just said ‘Deb, there’s an 11-year-old in asthmatic arrest and there is no MICA available, there is nobody.”

Earlier that night, down the Surf Coast Highway, Melissa Ruff had taken her “beautiful” son Joshua to play his weekly basketball game.

Melissa Ruff was left devastated by the death of her son Joshua.

Joshua often suffered bouts of seasonal asthma, but “nothing his puffer couldn’t fix”.

So when, after coming to the sidelines with a bout of asthma, he asked his mother to call an ambulance, Ms Ruff began to worry.

“I knew this was something different,” Ms Ruff said.

“His face was so concerned, sometimes the puffers get jammed so I went and got another from the car.”

When she returned, the situation had turned critical, and an ambulance had been called and other parents were performing CPR.

Paramedic Debra Baumgartner (left) says an incident like Joshua’s will happen again. Picture: Brad Fleet

Back at the hospital, Ms Baumgartner was facing a dilemma. She had administered fentanyl to her current patient and it would be against protocol to leave them with another staff member.

She was forced to make a decision – drop everything and face almost certain repercussions for ignoring policy, or stay with her patient and leave the boy without a MICA unit.

“Your heart rate goes up, your adrenaline just kicks into gear,” Ms Baumgartner said

“I just said ‘F---, I have to get rid of this patient’.

“It’s extremely off-policy, so I expected a kick in the bottom for it, but my management was good about it, they actually told me ‘Deb, you’re fine, we’ll take care of it’.”

By the time the MICA unit was on scene, Joshua had been in arrest for 40 minutes.

Joshua Ruff and sister Annabelle.

An Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance crew had arrived, but they weren’t able to help.

“MICA units can intervene with an asthmatic arrest patient’s airway,” Ms Baumgartner said.

“The ALS crew which arrived had done a fantastic job, but they just aren’t equipped to deal with it.

“The crew couldn’t ventilate, (Joshua) hadn’t had any oxygen for 40 minutes.”

If the crew hadn’t been delayed at a job at which they weren’t required, Ms Baumgartner said Joshua would have had a better chance of survival.

The time between calling an ambulance and the arrival of a MICA unit is something that left Ms Ruff with questions.

“If they had arrived earlier, and done something different, I don’t know what would’ve happened,” she said.

The Ruff family.

“It’s certainly something that plays on my mind.”

Ms Baumgarnter said that if she hadn’t been dispatched to a lower-priority job prior to Joshua’s attack, the MICA unit could’ve been on scene 20 minutes faster.

She said while that doesn’t mean Joshua would have necessarily survived, it could have given him a “better shot”.

Ms Baumgarnter said a situation like this “will happen again”.

“It’s just pure luck that we get away with it,” she said.

“There are so many near misses that could have been tragedies.”

This fact horrifies Ms Ruff, who said she wouldn’t wish it on her “own worst enemy”.

“We live in such a wealthy country, and Torquay isn’t remote, you just don’t think these things can happen,” Ms Ruff said.

“It’s devastating, the ripple effect and trauma of the day, and then losing him, the whole community was impacted by it.”

Ambulance Victoria undertook a case review at the time and found the response to be appropriate, with no concerns raised.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the family on the loss of their loved one,” an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.

“Cases of this nature are routinely reviewed by our clinical review team – this process took place at the time.

“We continue to work with our partners at Triple Zero Victoria to support the call-taking and dispatch process.”

Ambulance Victoria says it regularly reviews and adjusts the ambulance dispatch grid – based on research, clinical expertise and large body of clinical data – to ensure it is suitable for the Victorian environment.

Originally published as ‘It will happen again’: Paramedic says broken system cost 20 crucial minutes getting to Torquay boy Joshua Ruff