Government is already acting on ‘deeply upsetting’ triple zero death, Merlino says

Deputy Premier James Merlino says the “deeply upsetting” case of a Preston father who died after a 15-minute wait on hold to triple zero was unacceptable, but he believes the government has already acted to plug gaps in the strained system.

Nick Panagiotopoulos, 47, waited 25 minutes for an ambulance to arrive on October 16, after being on hold with the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) for a call that was supposed to have been answered within five seconds.

Nick Panagiotopoulos and his wife Belinda.

His case, detailed in The Age on Wednesday, came in the days before then-chief executive Marty Smyth resigned as the emergency call operator struggled to cope with rising demand.

Triple zero ambulance calls have grown to an average of 3000 a day, up from the August daily average of 2400. As complaints about unanswered calls mount, 43 additional ESTA staff are being hired and trained.

Former police chief commissioner Graham Ashton is also considering whether ESTA needs a major overhaul amid growing claims the service is failing.

On Wednesday Mr Merlino said Mr Panagiotopoulos’ death, which will be investigated by the coroner and the Inspector General for Emergency Management, was a tragic case.

“The story today was deeply upsetting, deeply upsetting,” he said. “There are no words that I can say to this family or any other family that have lost a loved one.

“We do not want families to go through what this family has.”

Of the 43 new full-time-equivalent staff funded in the Victorian state budget, Mr Merlino confirmed some had started work.

The remainder are expected to start answering emergency calls in January.

Belinda, Nick Panagiotopoulos’ wife.Credit: Justin McManus

“What’s important is, what changes are we putting in place?” Mr Merlino said.

“There is a comprehensive review of ESTA being conducted by the former chief commissioner of police. At the same time, there is significant additional funding to meet increasing demand. And there has been increasing demand.

“I think it’s important the government acts, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the state government was failing to properly manage the health system.

“There’s no use putting in more and more and more money and getting worse and worse results,” Mr Guy said on Wednesday.

“If they can’t get the health system right now, they’ll never get it right. Maybe the problem actually is with the government and not the system.”

Pre-pandemic, ESTA was answering about 95 per cent of emergency calls within the target time of five seconds, but this has consistently dropped to below its benchmark. An average of 87.7 per cent of emergency ambulance calls in 2020-21 were answered within five seconds after a spike in demand of almost 15 per cent.

Failing to answer the calls within targets can be deadly.

In April, a 32-year-old woman was found dead on her bathroom floor after waiting almost seven hours for an ambulance.

Authorities have also investigated the case of a three-year-old girl who died from a cardiac arrest near Bendigo after her family’s triple zero call was placed on hold for one minute and 41 seconds.

Later, two people suffering cardiac arrest died after their triple zero calls went unanswered for five minutes. Another call in a life-threatening circumstance was unanswered for up to 33 minutes.

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