ESTA delays contributed to Nick Panagiotopoulos’s agonising death, court told

A Preston man who waited 16 minutes for an ambulance may have been saved if his frantic triple-0 calls had been answered sooner, a court has been told.

A loving father who waited for medical help for an agonising 16 minutes and five seconds would likely still be alive if not for delays with the state’s emergency call-taking service, a court has heard.

An inquest has been ordered into the death of Nick Panagiotopoulos, 47, who died of a heart attack in his Preston home on October 16, 2021.

His wait time was 193 times slower than the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority’s (ESTA) five-second target time to answer most emergency calls.

The County Court of Victoria on Friday heard the “cheerful” father of three girls slowly died in front of his family and neighbours while they frantically placed numerous unanswered triple-zero calls and performed CPR.

Mr Panagiotopoulos, a civil engineer, first called triple-zero at 12.34pm after feeling unwell and sweaty.

His wife Belinda rushed home, performing CPR on her husband as multiple calls for help went unanswered.

Nick Panagiotopoulos waited 16 agonising minutes for an ambulance before his death. Picture: Nine News

The court heard paramedics were finally dispatched at 12:51pm – more than 16 minutes after Mr Panagiotopoulos’ first call for help.

By the time they arrived at 12.55pm, he was no longer breathing and had no pulse.

At 12.59pm, paramedics noted he was in asystolic cardiac arrest and attempted to restart his heart including through intubation and the use of adrenaline.

But it was too late, with Mr Panagiotopoulos declared dead by 1.40pm.

Cardiologist Associate Professor Nicholas Cox submitted to the court that it was likely Mr Panagiotopoulos would have survived if help arrived sooner

“If paramedics were in attendance prior to Nick’s cardiac arrest, his chance of survival would have been good,” a report read.

“Paramedics, had they witnessed Nick’s cardiac arrest, would have been able to commence CPR immediately, then assess and perform defibrillation within 1-2 minutes of loss of cardiac output. The likelihood of success of defibrillation in this situation would have been

high.”

A review of Victoria’s emergency ambulance call answer performance found that in late 2021 – during the height of the pandemic – there were unprecedented delays in ambulance call times.

Thirty-three people died from emergencies linked to triple-zero delays or lengthy ambulance waits.

The inquest, set to begin on December 11, will examine the management of triple-0 calls the day of Mr Panagiotopoulos’ death and potential system improvements to avoid future tragedies.