Kylie Cay inquest: Ambulance Victoria failed domestic violence victim
A woman who was bashed by her partner before hiding in a dog kennel tried to get help for the horror injuries – but died alone for a shocking reason.
A Victorian woman who was brutally bashed later died alone and in pain because ambulance workers ignored her pleas for help, a coroner has found.
Kylie Cay survived a horrifying attack with a hammer at the hands of her partner in June 2016. He smashed her feet with it, punched her in the face, broke her ribs and dislocated her collar bone.
The 44-year-old phoned for an ambulance a day after she was discharged from hospital but her call for help was downgraded and later cancelled.
The triage paramedic told her it “wasn’t a medical emergency” and she needed pain relief.
A day later she was dead.
Following an inquest, a coroner found on Tuesday her death could have been prevented.
Her heartbroken family said she survived an attack by a coward but not the response of ambulance officers who took her calls.
“Kylie could have survived her attacker but Ambulance Victoria’s inability to take family violence seriously meant that her life was cut short,” Heath Cay said through a lawyer on Tuesday.
The mum-of-three should have been prioritised as a victim of family violence and instead her pleas were ignored.
“She died in isolation and in pain begging for assistance while a free ambulance remained parked only 700m away.”
If an ambulance had been sent then Kylie would be alive today, he said.
The coronial inquest probed whether her death was preventable and focused on the policies of Ambulance Victoria and Corrections Victoria.
Opportunities to prevent Ms Cay’s death were missed when the urgency of the call was downgraded and it was cancelled, Deputy State Coroner Caitlin English said in her findings.
Her death was in the context of “significant” family violence and the response by Ambulance Victoria was “tone deaf”, she continued.
Ms Cay’s death could have been prevented if an ambulance or a taxi had been sent to take her to hospital, the coroner found.
Ms English said that if Ms Cay had told the operator her symptoms of broken ribs and pain worsening was a result of a car accident then her call may not have been downgraded.
The operator who downgraded the call, Danial Staff, did so without any additional information or undertaking an investigation into what happened to the 44-year-old, the coroner found.
Despite Ambulance Victoria admitting it failed the domestic violence victim, Ms English said it defended the actions of its staff.
The coroner found Mr Staff did not act in accordance with existing policies at the time he downgraded the call.
She also slammed the response of Jarrod Freckleton who phoned Ms Cay after the call for the ambulance was downgraded and later cancelled the dispatch.
“The call isn’t an example of active listening or an empathetic approach,” she said.
The ambulance worker didn’t check or say her name when the call became muffled and didn’t hear her when she asked for a taxi to take her to hospital, Ms English said.
Instead the call was disconnected.
Horrifying audio captured the Port Fairy woman moaning in pain and begging Ambulance Victoria for help.
The shocking assault that landed her in hospital was carried out by Justin Turner who was later jailed for manslaughter for more than a decade.
To escape his shocking attack Ms Cay hid in a dog kennel before going to hospital.
Ms Cay told police he had previously strangled her until she lost consciousness.
The coroner also noted in her findings that Corrections Victoria had missed “red flags” in the case of Turner, with Ms Cay having several court orders out against him.
He failed to comply with an order 18 times before he killed Ms Cay.
Ambulance Victoria spokesman Simon Thomson said since 2016 the service had made significant changes to how they dealt with triple-0 calls.
“We believe that in this case it was the system that let Kylie down,” Mr Thomson said outside of court.
He said both staff members were still working for Ambulance Victoria.
The coroner recommended that Ambulance Victoria use the transcript of Ms Cay’s call as an example to teach staff about dealing with family violence and improve empathetic and active listening.
Other recommendations included an internal review to ensure staff received training about the nature and effects of injuries caused by family violence and an audit of policies and work instructions.
She recommended Corrections Victoria introduce an electronic case management system to enhance management of an offender’s compliance with court orders.
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