Mum tells of terror over ambulance delay for young son gasping for breath

A mum who faced a terrifying ambulance delay while her two-year-old son struggled to breathe is begging Victorians to stop clogging the system with unnecessary calls.

A Victorian mother whose two-year-old son was gasping for air after contracting a respiratory virus has revealed the terrifying moment she thought paramedics would not attend in time due to critical ambulance delays.

Kate Page, from Hoppers Crossing, said she immediately dialled triple-0 last week on July 11 at 11.30pm after her two-year-old son, Asher, woke up gasping for air.

“He had croup and he couldn’t breathe, his lips began turning blue and clammy to touch,” she said.

“We called triple-0 and we were told by the call-taker: ‘We have to let you know that there is a delay but someone will be out to you as soon as possible. I’m sorry but I have to hang up now to take other calls’.”

Ms Page said she was left “terrified” by the call-taker’s response.

“We had to toy with the idea that an ambulance wouldn’t come and that was frightening as his condition was worsening.”

She said paramedics luckily arrived seven minutes after calling triple-0.

Kate Page was terrified for her two-year-old son, Asher, when faced with an ambulance delay.

“We were lucky as an ambulance did arrive and they were fantastic. Asher got the care he needed and went to hospital.

“We also called triple-0 six weeks ago after Asher had a respiratory syncytial virus and we were told of delays during that call too.

“Thankfully paramedics did attend immediately and he ended up in hospital needing Ventolin bursts, atrovent, IV magnesium and steroids.”

Ms Page said she issued a desperate plea for people to stop calling triple-0 unnecessarily to prevent delays.

“The system is overwhelmed and we were told by paramedics that people are calling triple-0 for minor issues such as a sore throat and they don’t require an ambulance.

“It comes down to a case of life and death for someone and we don’t want another family to go through this.”

Victorian Ambulance Union general secretary Danny Hill said: “Our members are telling us that so many of the cases that they’re going to turn out being that the patient doesn’t require or receive any form of emergency medical care at all”.

“They may get transported to hospital if that ends up being what is decided but often they don’t get any medical treatment at all but other patients out there need that treatment and paramedics are trained to deliver lifesaving emergency care to someone that really needs it desperately,” Mr Hill said.

Kate Page, pictured with her husband, Jamie Page, and son Asher, 2, is urging people not to call triple-0 unnecessarily.

Ambulance Victoria acting executive director operational communications Lindsay Mackay said: “We remain very busy and continue to ask all community members to help us by saving triple-0 for emergencies”.

“Every call for assistance that isn’t an emergency puts significant strain on our crews to reach those who need us the most,” Ms Mackay said.

“While ambulances are always provided to patients when required, about one in five calls to triple-0 do not need an emergency ambulance response.”

An ESTA spokeswoman said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented strain on systems around the world – no emergency response agency in the world has been immune to this, including ESTA and its call-takers.”

“We continue to receive a high number of calls which before Covid-19 were unprecedented,” she said.

“ This reflects the increased demand on emergency and health services worldwide.”

Between January and March, a total of 45,382 callers to triple-0 did not need an emergency ambulance and were instead connected by paramedics and nurses in the Secondary Triage Service to more appropriate care.