Victorian Premier Apologises to Families of 33 Who Died From Triple 0 Call Delays

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks during a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 19, 2021. AAP Image/Daniel Pockett

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has publicly apologised for the state’s triple zero call delay failure that directly led to 33 people dying.

The Victorian inspector-general for emergency management investigated the state’s emergency call response performance during COVID-19, where demand for the triple zero line surged.

The final report found 40 potential adverse events associated with call delays, control decisions, and/or ambulance resourcing issues between Dec. 1, 2020, and May 31, 2022. Of these, 33 patients did not survive.

Andrews said emergency call demand seen during COVID-19 was unprecedented, and the system would still have been overwhelmed if more funding had been granted earlier. Still, he apologised to the families that had been affected.

“Nothing in that model would avoid the system being overwhelmed by the thousands of additional calls for day after day after day,” he told reporters.

“Many things have been overwhelmed in recent years, and it’s incredibly challenging and tragic.

“And that’s why we send not only our best wishes and our sincere condolences and sympathies to those families, but we apologise for a system that did not meet your needs.”

Victoria Ambulances are seen at the St. Vincent Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 11, 2022. Diego Fedele/Getty Images

Understaffed and Under-Resourced

Resourcing was a key reason for experiencing emergency call delays, particularly after October 2021, when its call answer speed dropped below 70 percent of 000 calls answered in five seconds, Inspector-General Tony Pearce said in the report.

Responding to 90 percent of ambulance calls within five seconds is the benchmark set by The Emergency Service Telecommunications (ESTA).

The emergency call workers also had to filter through non-emergency COVID-19 requests, adding to delays.

Investigations by The Age and 60 minutes in March found that some people waited up to 16 minutes to reach an operator. This extended wait time meant 12 people, including four children, could not receive the emergency services they required.

In May, the Victorian government allocated $12 billion (US$8.5 billion) to improve its health system, of which $218 million went towards the triple zero emergency call service.

The extra funding helped ESTA hire an additional 280 call-takers in addition to the 120 announced in March.

Opposition Leader Matthew accused the premier’s apology of being “insincere.”

“What we wanted was the system fixed. We wanted this system fixed in 2015 when he got the first report,” he said.