Two dead as whistleblowers say emergency calls went unanswered for five minutes

The ESTA boss says “we’re in a battle” after two Victorians died while their triple-0 calls went unanswered for five minutes.

The head of Victoria’s Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority has resisted calls to step down after the Herald Sun revealed delays in answering triple-0 calls had resulted in the deaths of two people.

ESTA chief executive Marty Smyth told 3AW on Friday; “I’m here to lead (this) organisation through this current crisis into the future.

“We’re in a battle right now. This is no time to be walking away from a battle.”

Mr Smyth said a recorded announcement had been placed at the beginning of triple-0 calls, advising Victorians to request a Nurse-On-Call if they were not facing an emergency.

“We did that last night and we found that (it) actually dropped the volume of calls going through,” he said.

It comes as Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher revealed the impact of the delays is being felt nationwide.

Telstra is responsible for answering calls to triple-0 and transferring them to the relevant state emergency service organisation.

“The operational data from Telstra shows that there are calls on hold for 20 minutes or more, in each case requiring the Telstra operator to stay with the caller while waiting for Victoria’s ESTA to accept the call,” Mr Fletcher said.

Two people suffering cardiac arrest died after triple-0 calls went unanswered for five minutes in each case, whistleblowers have revealed.

In a third case, an emergency call was ignored for an “unheard of” 33 minutes, while a call from an elderly patient with chest pains was left unanswered for 14 minutes on Tuesday night, paramedics say.

With the state’s emergency call-taking system in crisis, the Andrews government will on Friday launch a wholesale review of its operations.

Former Victoria Police chief Graham Ashton has been appointed to lead the independent review of the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority.

Victorian Ambulance Union general secretary Danny Hill on Thursday called for ESTA chief executive Marty Smyth to stand down because of the delays.

However, Mr Smyth told 3AW on Friday that he would not be standing down.

“I’m here to lead (this) organisation through this current crisis into the future,” he said.

“We’re in a battle right now. This is no time to be walking away from a battle.”

Mr Smyth said a recorded announcement had been recently deployed to the beginning of a triple-0 call, advising Victorians to phone Nurse-On-Call if they were not facing an emergency.

“We did that last night and we found that (it) actually dropped the volume of calls going through.”

In a case on Wednesday night, in which a woman in her 80s from Mernda died of cardiac arrest, the call for help was not answered for five minutes, say furious paramedics.

Another person in cardiac arrest with no pulse or breath in Sunshine on Tuesday night passed away, with an emergency call left unanswered for a similar amount of time, whistleblowers say.

It comes as Ambulance Victoria revealed paramedics will soon be joined by defence and emergency services personnel to ease the pressure on Victoria’s overwhelmed health system.

Ambulance Victoria has reported “four of its five busiest days in history” during the past fortnight and in a first for the service, paramedics will not always be deployed in pairs.

From next week onwards, some paramedics will instead be joined by a driver from either the SES, the ADF, the charity St John Ambulance Australia or even by student paramedics.

However, it is understood not every ambulance across the state will be driven by someone other than a paramedic.

Paramedics are said to be furious at the unacceptable delay in answering triple-0 calls. Picture: David Crosling

It is hoped that by dividing a pair of paramedics and deploying them to separate emergencies in two different ambulances, response times will improve.

Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has revealed that the impact of the delays is being felt nationwide.

Telstra is responsible for answering calls to triple-0 and transferring them to the relevant state emergency service organisation.

“The operational data from Telstra shows that there are calls on hold for 20 minutes or more, in each case requiring the Telstra operator to stay with the caller while waiting for Victoria’s ESTA to accept the call,” Mr Fletcher said.

“I have written to Victoria’s Emergency Management Minister seeking urgent advice on what else is being done to alleviate this issue, not just because of the impact on Victorians but because the delays are impacting Telstra’s ability to answer triple-0 calls elsewhere in Australia.”

The Herald Sun reported on Thursday a Melbourne father who feared for his choking baby’s life was unable to get through for more than two minutes after dialling triple-0.

Mr Smyth confirmed there had been delays in ­answering calls. He said demand for ­triple-0 ambulance calls had increased by about a third during the pandemic – from a daily average of 2200 last October to 3000.

Calls that did not require emergency help were placing workers under unnecessary pressure, Mr Symth said.

“On Wednesday we experienced unanticipated spikes in calls into ESTA and unfortunately about 38 per cent of the calls did not actually need an ambulance,” he said. “Our hardworking call-takers did their absolute best to respond to calls as quickly as possible.”

Mr Hill said call-takers were doing “everything they can” but ESTA was chronically understaffed.

“The organisation just needs to have a real wake-up call, and I think their CEO has just really failed in their duty to ensure we have a proper emergency call-taking and dispatch system in Victoria,” he said.

“The CEO needs to step aside. Our members up there are doing an incredible job under really difficult circumstances and they’re really feeling the strain.”

Mr Hill said there was no acceptable delay in answering a triple-0 call.

“In a stroke, time is brain tissue. In a heart attack, time is muscle,” he said, adding he was “absolutely” concerned about the worsening delays as daily Covid cases rose and restrictions were about to ease.

“It’s terrifying,” he said. “It’s busy enough today but it’s going to get a lot worse once we open up if that’s the system that we’re under.”

The independent review will probe ESTA’s current functions, and will make recommendations to improve its capabilities early next year.

Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes said the government wanted to “see where things can be improved”.