Elderly woman dies after waiting two hours for Victorian ambulance

An elderly woman in Melbourne’s west died after waiting two hours for paramedics to arrive after a Triple Zero call was triggered. 

Ambulance Victoria (AV) chief executive Jordan Emery said the woman had a fall in her Hoppers Crossing home on Friday morning but was not attended to for hours.

“Ambulance Victoria was in a period of significant operational demand and attended that incident approximately two hours after the first initial call was received,” Mr Emery said.

He promised a “comprehensive review” around the incident and said AV was still not aware of the full circumstances around the woman’s death.

Mr Emery said the ambulance service was being subjected to a period of “heightened demand” in recent weeks.

“That demand has been consistent with other evenings and mornings over the last couple of weeks,” Mr Emery said.

“We have seen an increase in acuity at various hospitals across Melbourne and the state.

“We have seen an increase in sickness in our own workforce as a result of winter illness.”

Mr Emery said 12 additional crews had been rostered on in recent days to cope with the demand.

He said AV had been in contact with the woman’s family and offered his sincere condolences.

Victoria Police are now preparing a report for the coroner following the death of the Hoppers Crossing woman.

“A woman aged in her 90s was located deceased inside the property on Rudolph Street about 7am,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious.”

A Triple Zero Victoria spokesperson said the initial emergency call from an alarm company was answered immediately and passed onto Ambulance Victoria.

“There were no delays in TZV answering or actioning the alarm company’s 000 [Triple Zero] call, which was answered within seconds and referred to AV’s secondary triage services team based on the information provided by the caller and in accordance with AV’s protocols,” the spokesperson said.

Victoria’s Triple Zero system was overhauled in 2022 and rebranded following widespread failures.

A review conducted from October 2021 to May 2022 of the state’s Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority found at least 12 people died in the period while while waiting for an ambulance. 

The review saw the service rebranded as Triple Zero Victoria and $333 million invested by the government into improving the system and hiring more call-takers.