Ramping ‘Major Factor’ in Deadly 10-hour Ambulance Wait

An ambulance is parked in front of the Emergency and Trauma service at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, on July 21, 2022. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Emergency responders “under-appreciated” the risk to a vulnerable patient who died after a 10-hour ambulance wait, a review of the incident has found.

Suffering intense abdominal pain and vomiting, an ambulance was called for Eddie, a 54-year-old man living in disability care in Adelaide’s east, on Dec. 27.