Ambulance Tasmania: Anton Lukacevich died after operator logged heart attack incorrectly

The Health Department won’t say how often in the last two years Ambulance Tasmania operators have engaged in “non-compliant call taking,” after a coroner found an opportunity to save a life was missed.

Ambulance Tasmania missed the opportunity to save the life of Anton Lukacevich, 64, who was suffering a heart attack, Coroner Simon Cooper has found. Picture: Tasmanian Department of Health

The Tasmanian Health Department won’t say how often in the last two years operators have engaged in “non-compliant call taking,” after a coroner found an opportunity to save the life of a man suffering a heart attack was missed.

Coroner Simon Cooper published his findings on Monday into the death of Anton Lukacevich, 64, at Mangalore on January 25 last year.

Mr Lukacevich was staying at his sister-in-law’s house when he suffered a heart attack.

His wife called triple-0 at 10.34am, telling the Ambulance Tasmania operator her husband was suffering from “sweating, shortness of breath and shoulder pain – all symptoms of a heart attack,” Mr Cooper said.

“Despite this clear information, the call was incorrectly entered into the Ambulance Tasmania Medical Priority Dispatch System.

“Mr Lukacevich was categorised as being of ‘less apparent priority’ than other cases. Accordingly no ambulance was sent.”

Mr Lukacevich’s wife called triple-0 again at noon, by which time her husband “had collapsed, was blue and not breathing”.

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“Despite the efforts of Mr Lukacevich’s wife, sister and brother-in-law at CPR, by the time ambulance paramedics arrived he was dead and could not be resuscitated,” Mr Cooper said.

Mr Cooper commented that the “failure by Ambulance Tasmania to afford the matter an appropriate priority – described in its initial response to a request for information as part of this investigation as being ‘non-compliant call taking’ – potentially meant Mr Lukacevich lost an opportunity for survival”.

Ambulance Tasmania State Operations Centre at Brisbane St, Hobart. Picture: Xsquared Architects

The Mercury asked the Tasmanian Department of Health how many instances of “non-compliant call taking” it had logged across the two most recent financial years (2021–22, and 2022–23). A department spokesman declined to answer this question.

“Ambulance Tasmania extends its sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr Lukacevich. We acknowledge the circumstances of this case and note the comments of the coroner,” the spokesman said.

“Since Mr Lukacevich’s death in January 2022, Ambulance Tasmania has made changes within the State Communications Centre including improving the structure and governance in regards to clinical call backs for patients awaiting ambulance arrival, increasing the induction training for new recruits, and increasing its secondary triage operations to ensure cases initially deemed as lower priority are appropriately escalated if the patient’s situation changes.”