A court heard on Monday that a lengthy delay connecting to Victoria’s triple-zero service caused the untimely death of Preston father Nick Panagiotopoulos on October 16, 2021.
According to WA Today, Panagiotopoulos hadn’t yet gone into cardiac arrest the first time he called for an ambulance, however, the wait of more than 16 minutes to reach an Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) “eliminated his chance of survival.”
Nick’s death sparked a review by ESTA’s regulator, but many more deaths would follow in the months to come as the answering crisis worsened.
The court heard on Monday that a coroner’s investigation into Nick’s death may include an assessment of the adequacy of the 2022 inspector-general’s review of emergency ambulance call answer performance.
Cardiologist and Associate Professor Nicholas Cox told the court: “Had the emergency services arrived… within seven to 10 minutes [of his cardiac arrest], then I think his chances of survival were very good.”
The Panagiotopoulos inquiry was supposed to resume on Tuesday, but it was postponed until March because the court recently received a “considerable amount of information” from ESTA and Telstra, which directs Australians’ triple-zero calls to the appropriate emergency service.
Source: WA Today
