NSW Ambulance addresses issues with cross border dispatches

Confirmation from the Sydney-based emergency service on Tuesday November 7 follows Ambulance Victoria telling The Border Mail of the change on Monday November 6.

"At the request of NSW Ambulance and Ambulance Victoria, Telstra has, from yesterday (Monday), implemented an updated call routing plan that will immediately direct triple zero calls in the border region to the closest available resource, regardless of whether that is a NSW Ambulance or an Ambulance Victoria resource," a NSW Ambulance spokesperson said.

"NSW Ambulance and Ambulance Victoria have a strong history of working collaboratively to meet the emergency mobile health needs of border communities, ensuring all patients receive the optimal operational response."

EARLIER: Amblance Victoria says it has resolved a problem which has seen delays in paramedics being sent to triple-0 calls in small communities along the NSW border.

However, the Victorian Ambulance Union, while welcoming the fix, believes further investigation is required.

The difficulty first emerged in March 2022 and related to 43 areas along the border where the nearest ambulance would be dispatched from a station on the other side of the Murray River.

For example a Corowa ambulance would be called on for jobs at Rutherglen and Wahgunyah, a Yarrawonga crew could drive to Mulwala and Corryong workers would attend emergencies at Khancoban.

In March this year, a woman, 61, suffered cardiac arrest and died at Rutherglen after a 12-minute wait for an ambulance which union secretary Danny Hill said was double-handled by Victorian and NSW emergency call takers adding up to nine minutes to the process.

Mr Hill said while he could not say what may have happened with a shorter response time, "what you can say definitely is you're not giving the person the best chance of survival when there is unnecessary delay".

An Ambulance Victoria investigation determined there was no identifiable impact on the woman's outcome as a result of the handling of the emergency call.

Following the various concerns being raised by the union, Ambulance Victoria said the issue had been resolved after contact with other parties involved.

"We have worked closely with NSW Ambulance and the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, and can confirm a resolution has been implemented," an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said.

"Calls will be routed to the closest ambulance service instead of the state where the patient is located, providing an enhanced response to people living on the border."

Mr Hill welcomed the breakthrough but expressed disappointment at the time it had taken to be remedied.

"I'd say it's taken way too long to get resolved and there needs to be a light shone on why it's taken so long and what harm has been done to patients as a result."

Mr Hill said his union hoped Safer Care Victoria, a state health watchdog, would investigate the matter.

However, in a statement, a Safer Care Victoria spokesperson said "we have met with the Victorian Ambulance Union to discuss their concerns and a resolution has now been implemented".

The Border Mail then asked if that meant there would be any further probing of the matter and was told that the matter was considered closed.

As for what triggered the problem, Mr Hill suggested changes at Telstra were to blame.

"For whatever reason Telstra upgraded some systems and the theory is that the cross border system reset and it was effectively disrupted," he said.

"We're not 100 per cent sure, but that's one of the theories."

Telstra denied it was to blame.

"Our triple zero team directs emergency calls according to processes set and agreed by state emergency services," a spokesperson said.

"No system changes have changed that and any questions about these processes need to be directed to the relevant state emergency services providers."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: