Misrouted triple-zero calls on Vic-NSW border leading to ambulance delays

A health watchdog is examining whether patients living near the Victorian-NSW border have been harmed, with leaked emails revealing the closest ambulance is not always being dispatched.

Another email from an Ambulance Victoria patient review specialist said there had been 10 patient safety incidents over the past two years involving emergency calls from border towns being handled by both NSW and Victorian call centres.Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said four Victorian patients had died from cardiac arrests in the past year following delays in dispatching the closest ambulances. He said these delays were caused by the misrouting of triple-zero calls.

He said that in March, a 61-year-old woman died in Rutherglen from a cardiac arrest after waiting 12 minutes for the nearest ambulance to be dispatched. This delay was due to the call being handled by a Victorian emergency call centre, then a NSW call centre. “We have met with the Victorian Ambulance Union to discuss their concerns and are aware that a resolution is imminent,” she said.

A spokesperson for NSW Ambulance said it was working with Ambulance Victoria to implement an updated call-routing plan that will immediately direct triple-zero calls in the border region to the nearest ambulance.Telstra directed questions to the state emergency services providers, insisting it had made no system changes to its processes.

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