Up to 4000 ‘quite horrific’ calls were made to NSW Ambulance as fatal Bondi attack unfolded

Paramedics were inundated with thousands of “quite horrific” calls as the fatal attack at Westfield Bondi Junction unfolded.

Paramedics received somewhere between 3000 and 4000 “quite horrific” calls for help as the fatal Bondi Junction attack unfolded.

Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six people and injured 10 during a stabbing rampage at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney’s east on April 13, 2024.

Ms Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia were all killed in the attack.

Inspector Amy Scott, working alone, shot Cauchi dead during the incident and is credited with saving multiple lives as a result.

A five-week coronial inquest into Cauchi’s “state of mind” both before the fatal attack and on the day, including whether he may have targeted any particular individuals or groups, began on Monday.

On Wednesday, the inquest probed communications between NSW Police and Ambulance.

NSW Ambulance assistant commissioner Brent Armitage, who attended the scene as an ambulance commander following the attack, gave evidence on Wednesday.

He said between 3000 and 4000 calls were received on the day of the attack, and thanked those who received the calls for their “remarkable job”.

“They were the first point of contact for many of the patients and bystanders. Indeed I’ve had the opportunity to listen to a few of those calls, and they are quite horrific,” Mr Armitage said.

Bondi victims (top l-r) Dawn Singleton, Ashlee Good, Cheng Yixuan (bottom l-r) Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia.

He said they did a “remarkable job on that day to remain calm” and provide “care on the phone until paramedics arrived”.

He also thanked the incident dispatcher who dealt with a volume of incidents in a period of time that NSW Ambulance had not seen before.

“I’d like to just acknowledge that this is a terrible incident that we hope we never see again. This had wide ranging impact on a number of people’s lives, notwithstanding the families of those who lost loved ones,” he told the court.

He said the NSW Ambulance response was “significant” and “well undertaken”, and thanked all those involved in the police and ambulance response on the day, as well as staff who have provided support in the “days, weeks, months” and year since the attack.

He turned to Inspector Scott, and commended her actions.

“The community of NSW is indebted to her,” he said.

“More broadly to the community of NSW, who has provided messages of support to individuals within NSW Ambulance, and indeed provided support to NSW Ambulance … thank you to you as well.”

‘If any of my paramedics get hurt or stabbed it will be on your head’

A senior ambulance officer allegedly told a police officer that if any paramedics were stabbed “it will be on your head” on the day of the attack.

The court was told a police officer present on the day recalled in a statement that an unknown senior ambulance officer had asked him if the area was still a hot zone.

The police officer told him “for my purposes yes” and it was still an “active crime scene”.

The ambulance officer allegedly asked if that were the case, why were paramedics still inside? He allegedly told the officer “if any of my paramedics get hurt or stabbed it will be on your head”.

Mr Armitage denied saying this in court.

Hot zone ‘would not have been declared’

Mr Armitage accepted if he’d known there was only one offender during the fatal attack he would not have declared a hot zone.

The court was told about 4.28pm a hot zone was declared, with a broadcast instructing all paramedic crews to exit Westfield, as directed by Mr Armitage.

The crews came out two minutes later. The court was told there were no injured persons still inside.

It’s understood the declaration had no impact on patient care.

The court was told the hot zone was declared just minutes after police had confirmed over police radio there was only one offender, however this was missed by NSW Ambulance.

Chief Inspector Chris Whalley gave evidence on day two of the coronial inquest. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

The hot zone was also never downgraded, however Mr Armitage accepted it should have been when he was advised there was only one offender, which was shortly after 5pm.

Mr Armitage also agreed a function should have been used to convey information between NSW Police and Ambulance, such as messages about concerns of a second offender.

He said if he’d known Cauchi was the only offender he wouldn’t have declared the hot zone.

“With the benefit of hindsight, the area would not have been declared hot,” he said.

“I probably still would have withdrawn the paramedics because there were no patients located within Westfield Bondi Junction at the time.”

Mr Armitage later said had there been patients still inside the shopping centre he “may well have made a different decision” regarding the hot zone declaration.

Based on what the paramedics inside had “just been through and witnessed … they did not need to continue to be inside that building”, Mr Armitage told the court.

He said support could have been provided to them outside the centre, and that in hindsight, different paramedic teams could have been swapped in and put in the centre.

However, he noted “I can’t make the decision again”.

Dawn asked for ambulance

NSW Ambulance critical care paramedic Christopher Wilkinson earlier told the court that paramedics weren’t able to get into the shopping centre.

He told the court how Ms Singleton had asked for an ambulance after she was stabbed by Cauchi.

It is not suggested paramedics did not reach Ms Singleton, or that her life could have been saved had there not been confusion about whether paramedics could enter and exit the centre.

“There was an expectation … by the community, and just an expectation that if you ring and ambulance we will come,” he said.

“Somebody of my experience, of 42 years … I felt inadequate being forced to stay on the outside when I thought people may be passing away on the inside.

“I had received Mr Tahir and wondered if there were others similar to him.”

Dawn Singleton asked for an ambulance after she was stabbed. Picture: Supplied

Mr Wilkinson said he would have liked to have seen paramedics with stretchers escorted to police to pick up patients and bring them back to a triage centre and treatment area.

“That is the way it’s supposed to happen, but unfortunately if we’re not allowed in that warm or hot zone, there is a delay, and sometimes that delay costs lives.”

Ambos kept out of centre

When Mr Wilkinson arrived at the scene at 4.03pm – about half an hour before a hot zone was officially declared – Mr Wilkinson said he had heard no one was allowed inside the shopping centre about the time he arrived.

When he asked what was going on, he recalled “there was some confused conversation, bits and snippets of things” relating to a hot zone and another offender.

“From recollection asking how come we couldn’t get in, and he told me it was basically a hot zone and we couldn’t go in until it was secured,” Mr Wilkinson said, though he couldn’t remember the exact language used.

Tributes laid outside Westfield Bondi Junction in the days following the attack. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

He also said there were multiple police around, with talks they were “looking for another offender”.

The court was told Mr Tahir was brought out of the centre about 4.15pm, and surgery was unsuccessfully performed on him.

“Only Mr Tahir had come out with the other two patients, and I was left standing there wondering whether there were any more patients like Mr Tahir to be treated,” Mr Wilkinson said.

He said he thought “we need to change the way we do things”.

“For me standing around, boots on the ground on the outside … knowing that there are people that could possibly be dying inside …(and) simply not going to them because there could be a second offender or could be a hot zone, I don’t think is good enough,” Mr Wilkinson said.

He earlier offered his condolences to the families of the victims and assured Mr Tahir’s family that paramedics did everything they could to save him.

“The family can rest assured that we did everything possible to save his life,” he said.

Mr Wilkinson later emphasised had no issues with the actions of paramedics on the day.

“Bondi made me very proud to be a paramedic,” he said.

Confusion over ‘hot zone’

A senior police officer who attended the shopping centre following the attack, NSW Police Chief Inspector Christopher Whalley, was on Tuesday questioned about the communications between the police force and NSW Ambulance on the day.

Counsel assisting NSW state coroner Teresa O’Sullivan, Peggy Dwyer SC, suggested inter-agency communication could be improved going forward, with the court told police believed as of about 4.27pm there was only one armed offender.

However, just a minute earlier a NSW Ambulance directive was issued declaring the whole of Westfield was a “hot zone”.

Under the directive, paramedics were ordered to leave the centre and “stand down”.

Inspector Amy Scott shot killer Joel Cauchi dead. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

While it is “not suggested that there was any loss of life as a result”, it is a learning exercise for any future mass tragedy, Ms Dwyer told the court on Monday.

“If there had been any severely injured individuals in need of urgent medical attention, any form of lockdown or restriction on access by first responders would obviously have the potential to compromise care and could’ve had a catastrophic consequence. Fortunately it did not,” she said.

Ms Dwyer questioned whether news there was just one offender should have been shared with NSW Ambulance earlier, potentially through a mechanism that allowed police radio messages to be provided to NSW Ambulance dispatches.

“I think there’s the capacity for that to happen,” Inspector Whalley told the court.

“I’m also aware that triple-0 operators across the state were inundated with information in relation to this particular incident … but certainly yes, there’s opportunity for that information to be shared, yes.”

The coroner then directly asked Inspector Whalley what he thought the best way to convey that information to NSW Ambulance at the “earliest opportunity” would be.

“I think this incident, Your Honour, is very unique,” Inspector Whalley replied.

“There’s possibilities … or rather opportunities, for information to be shared at various points.”

Cauchi was shot dead at about 3.38pm.

The court was told on Monday that police radio broadcasts at 3.52pm and 3.58pm suggested police believed there may be a second offender, with the public order and riot squad acting on “intelligence which suggested that there might be a possible offender on the rooftop carpark” about 4.15pm.

However, Ms Dwyer earlier noted the “confusion” didn’t appear to affect the “survivability” of anyone.

Inspector Whalley arrived on the scene about 3.54pm that day, about 15 minutes after Cauchi was shot.

He told the court that he met with Inspector Scott and was “satisfied that in her view … there was one offender”.

Witnesses from NSW Ambulance are expected to be called to give evidence on Wednesday.

Originally published as Up to 4000 ‘quite horrific’ calls were made to NSW Ambulance as fatal Bondi attack unfolded