Nick McKenzie's 2022 investigation into the emergency crisis costing lives | 60 Minutes Australia
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- Опубликовано: 1 янв 2024
- Subscribe here: 9Soci.al/chmP50wA97J Full Episodes: 9now.app.link/uNP4qBkmN6 | No Answer (2022)
A beautiful 14-year-old Melbourne girl looks into the eyes of her mum and whispers words that would break any parent’s heart: “I’m not going to make it.” Alisha Hussein was right - a short time later she died, but she shouldn’t have. Alisha is a victim of a terrifying crisis in Victoria’s triple zero emergency service. At busy times, phones are simply not being answered because triple zero staff are on other urgent calls. They’re supposed to be connected within 5 seconds, but some callers are waiting 15 minutes or longer for help - and like Alisha, they’re dying. In this joint 60 Minutes, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald investigation, we reveal a scandal that must be fixed. Now.
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As an Australian this is horrific and disgusting
This is so sad. I'm so sorry for her loss. If they say you have emergency services, then they should be there when they're needed.
There's many things about the US medical system that is horrible but we are so lucky to have emergency services that usually work well. I live in a tiny town and we only have all volunteer ambulance and fire department. 5 years ago, my grandson became very ill and we had to call 911. The time from call to their arrival was 10 minutes at the most. They saved his life and I am eternally grateful for them. Emergency services are supposed to help save lives. People shouldn't die because no one is answering the phone. That makes me angry thinking about it. I hope they fix that soon or just tell your citizens to not bother and just do it themselves
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Delays in response time = lives lost. Period. It's absolutely heartbreaking for these patients, families, communities and yes - the health care workers involved that these systems are supposed to support and protect.
It seems simple, but unfortunately it's not an easy solution. More staff. More ambulances. Better systems to manage emergency calls. It all requires more public money which isn't available, or isn't being made available because it's tied up in other projects.
If this was a Male, you would "NOT" care unfortunately.
The state of female's today is appalling, l do not know what your issue is with male's, but it seems that you have no respect for them. 😐
As someone who suffers from asthma...... I am pissed for you! I am so sorry, you were let down.
My acquired asthma became much worse after covid and I wholeheartedly double your message as a son whose father was delivered to morgue 40 minutes after his second cardiac arrest in 2005, at 56.
HIRE PEOPLE!!! There is no excuse for emergency services being understaffed. Just. hire. enough. staff. Absolutely unforgivable incompetence and bureaucratic apathy.
It’s not just hiring more people. It’s keeping people…that is the hardest part. People are leaving these kind of jobs since they are not getting paid well enough and they are not being appreciated enough.
I’ll come there. Willing to relocate. Paramedic from the US. Im sorry for this horrible tragedy truly heartbreaking. Im sure the paramedics in Australia are amazing EMS all over the world don’t have the numbers (medics) to serve their communities. It’s a tough job and it’s definitely not for everyone.
Even if I knew the ambulance is going to take only 1-2 minutes, I know me driving to hospital will be 1-2 minutes faster…especially when it comes to my kids, I’m not waiting for anyone.
I know. I can’t believe that this lady did not bring her daughter to the hospital.
I agree to an extent as I choose to live close to hospitals just in case. But as an asthmatic I understand the thought of the ambulance being able to help immediately on arrival, so that's what people are probably trying to determine. It really depends what it is. In no way do people know or think it can take that long to even dispatch to the emergency services let alone get a hold of an ambulance. I was not aware of that until seeing this and I'm 40.
It really depends on what’s going on some movement could be literally detrimental to a persons recovery or chance of survival.
Companies reducing staff numbers to save money and pay shareholders, this should lead to all People in charge serve prison term
Definitely 💯
Shame on the system, and government. This is unacceptable.
As an asthmatic and a parent this absolutely broke my heart for you when I first heard about Alisha's story. Hearing of your loss made me even more vigilant of my asthma. I am so sorry for your heartache. 💔
Being a paramedic is a very hard and even dangerous job so for all the people that complain about the lack of paramedics should go on to become one.
May the family of this beautiful woman find some peace among the shattered pieces of their lives - crapped all over by Victoria and other similarly incompetent state officials. May her passing not be "a slip up" all in vain, but a powerful catalyst to put in motion all the changes in 000 that could prevent another family's dreams stolen in a way beyond egregious.
Government must, out of respect for the Hussein family and others, stop their ridiculous excuse that services such as 000 are "under staffed". Then take a couple of the ± THREE MILLION unemployed Australians, train them, and guess what, this crisis could have been averted.
This!!!
People’s lives are not like the weather. He has no straight forward answer. I’m so mad and upset and the blood of these people and their families are on the governments hands!
The government, care's about the government.
We are just pawns to them.
I'm in Melbourne and my daughter was in serious pain writhing around on the floor (kidney stone's we only found that out after she was admitted)...I called for an ambulance I was told it'd be at least an hour and a half so with her crawling to the car I drove her to the Northern...she was in for 2 day's needing intravenous fluids...thankfully she passed the stone's so she didn't require surgery...yeah I wouldn't wait for an ambulance It'd be faster for me to drive her 🤦♀️
A 1½ hr waitbon an ambulance is totally unacceptable. Somebody needs to lose their job, so that that ambulance can be properly dispatched in a timely manner. That is on the shoulders of that CEO, ultimately. He needs to get the rank and file off their duffs and moving. What are the excuses being given by the drivers as to why they aren't moving? We know the operators just aren't answering their phones....why exactly? You MUST hold these people accountable. Refusing to answer 000 calls should be made criminal, and hold these people accountable. Give the jobs to the people who would be willing to work them. These people have gotten lazy.
Heartbreaking my sister has asthma this is unexceptable
This is heart breaking
What’s wrong with this country?? They are lucky they will never have to deal with me!
Disgraceful under LABOUR AND DAN ANDREWS - shame shame shame.
Lesson - drive to emergency yourself- drive yourself.
So very sorry for your loss. 🙏🙏🙏
This is what happens when the system breaks down, on a catastrophic scale(deadly)
I truly hope they are getting the problem solved. In our town in the southeast USA, during the late 80s and early 90s, there was a problem similar to this. Sometimes, areas grow faster than expected, and emergency services have to catch up. In addition, close by volunteer counties would respond if called directly . There are a lot of emergencies that are still transported by families because their insurance doesn't pay. It's sad either way.
Same here. I have direct numbers saved on my phone since 911 is more like a middle man. I called police directly as I had a stalker, they were at my house before I finished giving them vehicle description and what all happened prior. I suggest everyone save their local emergency services to their phone and use those first. Plus, I don't want recorded during a horrible time in my life.
Also, yes the cost... People think everything is free. My neighbor who is a veteran, was charged five grand for the ambulance. I've seen them there several times in a couple months. Don't know how they're getting by! Imagine life flight!
Im a aged care nurse and i cant help but wonder about the unnecessary calls to 000 that happen in aged care..I was recently told to call a ambo for a fall when the resident had no injuries and vitals were within range, alert and orientated , no blood thinners and i had to argue that it wasnt necessary. I didnt call but thousands of racf in Australia over use the ambos, using them when others go without.
This is so heartbreaking.
At the end of the day, no matter how much will there is the proble will never be fixed UNLESS money is involved. And thats the big issue - the money does not exist or worse, those in charge do not want to spend it.
Shame on people who call emergency number for non-urgent cases
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"
Well it would be nice if an ambo could arrive ASAP to save MY LIFE.
I mean, I do pay my TAXES.
(or maybe there is not enough people wanting to work in this field)
Even after warnings of asthma alerts in the area lately omg they should have come quicker
Rip poor darling
And condolences to the family. What a horrific thing.
Especially when they all know what what happening.
My heart is so sunken for her family and the poor young lady
I think it would be a good idea if residents learn 1st aid, should they require emergency care, until 000 get their act together.
Why would they announce a 5 seconds respond and, with that, trigger an expectation that can never be fullfilled?
This is so hard to listen too. That poor mom and family. This makes me so mad and just sick!!! RIP baby girl🕊🕊🕊🕊
Heartbreaking
I live in eastern canada it took 6 trips to er in two weeks ending in emergency operation. During those ambulance rides i was told i was constipated, abusing 911, and not permitted to lay down. I complained the ambulance service received no disicipline. Things are breaking down all over. Im sorry for the girls loss. Shocking and avoidable.
What turned out to be the diagnosis?
@@WinnerWinnerChickenDinner009 I had a rectal abcess, which became sepsis then a fistula. They inserted a drain which I have 8 months later. I'm due for a surgery to fix the fistula but it has up to 40 percent chance of incontinence. Alot of ppl just keep the drain. I'm going to discuss with surgron. But yes I was told it was anxiety pain initially and 5 more times I was ignored. Until I went septic. God awful system here too.
I wish you the best and a fast recovery with no long term problems.
You’re absolutely right. Healthcare and people working in healthcare have become a disgrace. People (myself included) have to remember were caring for people not just some random person. I never wanna stop caring but it does happen unfortunately we all have to do better. Demanding change is a good start though.
@steveocirinooo8703 it will work only if they can be held accountable and I do believe they have legions of lawyers to cover them for their poor performance.
Unbelievable!!!!!
How very tragic. Poor darling. Love to her mum and her family ❤️❤️❤️🙏🏻 R.I.P. Alisha
I have an irrational fear of this happening and will never live in an area where I can't just get an uber, drive or hitch down the road if absolutely necessary. I think my anxiety comes from living in the country and the rubbish instructions my parents gave me if ever in need of an ambulance (to call, then drive and meet them halfway) which they still live by in their late 70s. I am less than 1km from the hospital and even that distance in an emergency feels far.
How sad!
i just got out of hospital from major asthma attack, so scary.poor family
Heart broken for her. 😢
'Absolutely shocking. If I were a resident depending on this service, I would be raising almighty "heck'.
I just don't understand this. Do they not have paramedics in their fire department that can respond first?
We have a backup plan in Canada despite the 45 minute wait at the ER to discharge the patient from the ambulance.
I'm so sorry for their loss and understand the window of time to force lungs to relax and exhale.
RIP 🕊️
I was just coming to say that the first time the initial person who answered the call came back to say there was no response from paramedica that person should have then tried fire in case they could answer faster!!
So sad, I feel awful for the family 😢.
our firies in Australia dont do that!
@owlhoo6996 , I'm sad to hear that. It really can be a life saver at times.
@@owlhoo6996in Victoria the fireman a trained to respond to medical emergencies. My brother in law had a seizure and the fire brigade responded as no paramedics were available. But in saying that they can’t dispatch a fire truck if no one is answering the phone.
If the ambulance can't respond within 5 mins., then callers must take matters into their own hands and arrange their own transportation. Even police can assist in transporting emergency transportation when time is of essence.
This is horrifying.
Just before Christmas also on the outskirts of Daylesford, my friend screaming in the bathroom in absolute pain/agony, for her husband to ring an ambulance! Could not send an ambulance because 'you don't have chest pain.' hubby and son finally were able to get her into a car and took her to local hospital and was then transfered to Melbourne for major surgery! Seriously this is sooo wrong! what has labor done to our Ambulance Service?
Long rant here about a similar situation. I live in the US, in a small Texas town. Unfortunately, this reminds me of a similar problem we had here that started, and for many, here reached a boiling point last year. Our town and county had outsourced much of its ambulance to a private company called Acadian Ambulances. So when someone here called our emergency service 911 in need of an ambulance, the dispatcher would call the local Acadian office, who would then send an ambulance. Well, a friend of mine whose 3 year old daughter has a seizure disorder was out shopping one day last year with her daughter, when she began having having what would be the worst seizure, she's had so far. She called 911 and waited for over 15 minutes while the 911 dispatcher tried to get through to the acadian office to dispatch an ambulance. No one answered. There was supposed to be a backup in place where if no one answered the phone at acadian, the call would automatically be transferred to our local fire station, which has an ambulance. No one, it seems, could explain why the dispatchers call to acadian didn't automatically transfer to the fire station. However, the 911 dispatcher finally terminated the call to the acadian ambulance office and called the fire station directly. The fire station promptly dispatched its own ambulance, and my friends daughter, fortunately, was taken to a hospital and is still alive and happy today. Turns out, when her had her seizure, the acadian ambulance office was two blocks away. And fire station was more than a mile. Lastly, this apparently wasn't the first time our town had had a problem, like this with the local acadian ambulance office.
I remember this story when it first happened and I suffer with a serious lung and heart problem and 999 in the UK is suffering a similar thing at the moment . I'm terrified that this might happen to me one day because despite me living 3 minutes in a car from our local A and E department I've had friends be on hold for 10 minutes and waiting for an ambulance for 7 hours for somebody that couldn't be moved after a traffic accident with spinal injuries otherwise we would have just taken them ourselves .
That poor poor girl .
I can't imagine what she must have gone through 😢
wow...its frustrating
There are a lot of problems in America, but we do have excellent ambulance and emergency medical response. Most people dont even give it a thought, we know they will be there.
Absolutely sad as f***😢
Am really sorry but this has been going on since the 90’s in Melbourne Victoria. I had the same problem and when my daughter, they told me my daughter was going to die anyway. They close the center on lorne st in prahran. I told them this was a problem .
As a mother my heart goes out to the mother who lost her beautiful daughter and I just want to give her a hug and let her know it's not her fault and she did everything she could with the information that she had at the time Australia really needs to get on the ball with this because nobody deserves to just waiting to get dispatch on the phone
Geez, you guys pay so much tax for these services! It's disgusting how this is happening to Australia!!
Why wait? I’m from far away from Australia. We would drive ourselves. Either to the ER (ED) of a hospital or to the nearest EMT station - it could be either medics or Fire Departments, they also have emergency medics.
15 minutes waiting is crazy.
I feel horrid for the family. What a nightmare.
Shameful!!
CPR SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADMINISTERED, IT WOULD HAVE PROBABLY HAVE SAVED HER LIFE.THIS IS SO UNCALLED FOR, PEOPLE DYING BECAUSE OF THIS FLAWED SYSTEM.CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY.
Yes, control the mother who couldn’t drive her daughter to the hospital to save her life.
Untrained call taker, she needed to instruct parents in CPR. While waiting on the ambulance. However 15 minutes would have been too long. If you need some help call fire dept. They have same qualifications and an A D. If not fire dept call police. All these ppl are trained in car and have medical devices. Or use your car turn on emergency lights and get someone to do car in back seat. So scary
C'mon this is a no brainer. You could have a 10yr old child picking up calls, asking if the caller needs ambulance, fire or police, logging the transport details, which are almost completely electronic and automatic . Dispatching an emergency vehicle is TOTALLY TRIVIAL. The added support training is in learning how to coach the caller to assist the victim with first aid erc.
Now tell me, would you rather talk to somebody who can dispatch an ambulance IMMEDIATELY (albeit with no firstaid training) or a Telstra operator who can do neither and is just a usless redundant third wheel.
The age of telephone companies intercepting incoming calls and patching them through to the destination, was about 80 years ago. The one place you DEFINITELY want your call to go straight through is emergency services. No but we can rig up a 1940s style opperator assisted telephone patching system.
Look forward to the high tech upgrade folks, with pedal powered wireless sets, and telegraph keys bleeping out ••• - - - ••• (SOS). They'll send a tortise over with a pack of bandaids straped to its back
JUST GET SOMEONE... *ANY-FRIGIN-ONE* to answer the goddamn calls and dispatch the appropriate first responders. That part is obviously and trivially easy.
How does this happen in this day & age ? REALLY!
At the distances travelled for the rural areas I hope they can eventually get a permanent flight for life stand by.
A helicopter or fixed wing life flight takes time too and it wouldn't have made a difference in this situation at all.
My parents live in the country and my dad has said to my 75yo mother that if she's ever bitten by a snake to call and ambulance and drive and meet them half way. From growing up there with stupid instructions like that I now, 40yo have an irrational fear of being too far from hospital so I'll always be close enough to Uber or drive lol. 40minutes is so far.
Im in Connecticut and I've never waited longer than 10-20 minutes for an ambulance, they're usually here in 3 to 5 minutes. I have unfortunately used the service nearly a dozen times in the past year. There's no reason for an ambulance to not be available. Nobody should ever have too, But sometimes you need to take things into your own hands if it's life or death and the ambulance won't answer.
I had to wait 8 hours for help after a heart attack at age 45 😢
No just Victoria, is everywhere!!
The problem lies with the population always going up.
And the prices for supplys are going up.
They need more ambulances, but how many which means a complete staff per Ambulance and think about all those salaries.
Now, you need to look at the Budget for this area.
I bet, there is not enough money in the expansion column if any in their Budget.
People of this area need to pay more taxes. I'm sorry to say.
You can start a charity. This would take some time to accumulate, but the people in Australia needs to know how to help your country.
I'm sure other towns are having the same problems.
More People + More Services + More Costs
Now, you have to plan for the future.
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It infuriates that he said, “we are not going to look back.” So that is now the way it is. No one held accountable or even asked to look at past horrific inconsistencies and mistakes and decide how to do things better. So much can be learned from history but he, like many modern people in high positions, choose to ignore it.
We dont pay taxes to wait 15 minutes for an emergency service. That's patheticn and a precious life lost, state should be charged for this.
In south Africa the ambulance just doesn't bother to pitch up most of the time... over 23000 dead in the last year due to government incompetence...
Absolutely heartbreaking; I am so sorry for your loss. I know it is not the fault of the staff, but most likely cutbacks and beurocratic red tape. This is unacceptable though. Here in Canada, ambulance wait times shot up to 23 minutes as of 2022, and people are dying waiting for up to 10 hours to see a doctor in emergency care at our hospitals. With the erosion of equitable access to the triangle of housing, food, and health, I fear that civil unrest is not far behind.
As a life long asthmatic this horrifying we have similar problems in uk, only worse.
Why can't private companies fill the gap?
Idk if this is gonna help anyone but if your in this situation and it takes longer then 30 seconds call the cops the firefighters like anyone
shame on you
This is a SHAME
My heart breaks for these families. For this to happen in Australia is a disgrace. Children should be dying due to delays literally just CONNECTING to the ambos. Why wasn’t there an alternative plan if they can’t connect. Send the police they can at least start cpr or get to the hospital faster.
Yes, it’s a disgrace but I can’t believe her mother sat there for 15 minutes on hold instead of putting her in the car and racing to the hospital. It’s unbelievable to me that when your child is having an asthma attack, you think it’s OK to sit on hold for five minutesmuch less 15 minutes before you get off your ass and drive your daughter to the emergency room. People have to take some accountability.
@@dylanthepickle6428I am not sure about Australia but at least in Finland it is teached that if somebody needs ambulance person should NOT be moved but you have to wait an ambulance. And it is highlighted often, in case of asthma attack too Emergency call center is understaff here too but nothing like this.
@@leas7830 I definitely understand that, but in a case like this, I would rather try to do something rather than nothing. I would think if it was something like a neck injury then yes, she wouldn’t want to move the person, but was just mean and asthma attack I would think, it would be better to just get them in the car and try to get them to the hospital but I’m not a doctor. I just know as a mother what I would do. But I also do know that it’s easy for me to sit here and judge someone when I wasn’t in their shoes.
I couldn't watch this. We're having similar problems in UK. It seems that to the government, money is more important than people these days.
REmember there are ways to try to control an asthma attack without an inhaler. Raising the arms above the head while sitting up straight, and drinking a caffeinated beverage, preferably strong coffee.
At least this is one thing the US gets right
This new ceo sounds like he has no clue on how to fix the ongoing problem.
Horrible...we need to all learn CPR .
The ambulance services are so overstretched.
I’ll relocate to Sidney / Melbourne. Paramedic here from Philadelphia, Pa USA. I’m serious.
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This shit happen everyday in all over the world 😢
This lady should sue the bastards
That's a time. You just get in a car and drive yourself to the hospital. This goes back to the 1970's in america. When a mother was having a heart attack and her daughter. Put in her in a car immediately and drove her to the hospital. That saved the mother's life.
Esta sounds like a broke company struggling. Can’t afford to hire more staff. Pathetic
Beware the hand of five eyes.
Dan is accountable for the broken system…neglected over time. Do we need to have volunteers to man the phones?
It seems Australia is deteriorating just like South Africa, so sad
So...they're gonna spend $150 Million dollars for 120 staff? Those people had better never come up short for any reason. That's over 1 $1 Million each.....that's "You'd better never mess up" money. And, maybe that's the point, but it still seems excessive.
everyone says we will fix it even the government but they don't. i hope she sues everyone that needs to be. i wonder how they would feel if it happen to them
We need freedom of speech
This is simply not good enough - ambulance services need to do better, otherwise more lives will be lost. Ambulance are responsible for saving lives not ending lives, along with medical staff
May this girl RIP and prayers for her family
Terrible failure
They need to boot all the callers with just a bout of sniffles off the line to take real emergency calls. It all comes down to fear of blood sucking ambulance chasing lawyers.
Andrew is a animal !!!!
THE SUCCESS BEHIND EVERY RICH PERSON TODAY IS THE DECISION THEY MADE FOR THEMSELVES, I'm so happy with a good investment, I'm able to acquire my third house recently even as a single mom at 41 and I believe if things keep going well I would retire early
Wow, that's nice! But how did you manage achieve all that even with the current economy that's very bad? Please i'll appreciate your assistance on how to go about it, I'm desperately looking for a way to pay up my debts and also achieve my goals ❤️
The truth is that, with this recent economy everyone needs more than their salary to be financially stable. The best thing is to do with your money is to invest it right because money left for savings always ends up used with no returns 👌
How do I reach her, please??
Y'all gotcha her leading contact?
Telegram 👇
Clearly out of touch. Get rid of these old “morals”. I sincerely think that it’s all intentional, bit they simple don’t have a clue and are only there to collect a salary and gain notoriety for being given the grace and assurance that they really care. He couldn’t even respond the the question. Pleeese get rid of these types of people. We’re in a new era of human needs. We really need more modern help. This has been goin on for way too long.
Seems that the staff training of new staff is BS. They are putting profit first!!!!
its always better to drive to the hospital yourself rather than praying that the government service will do anything other than spend your taxes.
ESTA. stop your ridiculous screening process & hire people who have life experience & education. Not people who need to know how to sole a stupid puzzle. Then you will have staff!!
Chicks dig us guys from Iowa! We're hot dudes here. Oh yeah
They're always trying to get into our pants!
We're totally hot dudes here.
beatiful 14 year old???? AYO???
This is FAR from just a news story. I feel so much anguish from the people in this story, and it makes me so mad when similar has happened to me. I was able to get through to 000. But there were no ambulances available, they were all tied up with hospital handovers. The hospital triage was backed up. Unless you are the Premier (Andrews) DO NOT expect to get emergency health support in Victoria. Andrews "fell down some stairs" and no delays, but different story when you are the one funding him. Sorry I am just so upset and angry with what happened to my wife. I do not think Victorians realise how broken our health system is broken, and how few media report how bad it is. It is great that some stories emerge, but so sad as to why, and to the families of those effected.
Dan Andrews
This is so sad!!! WHY DIDN”T SHE JUSY DRIVE HERR!?!! if my son couldn’t breathe there’s no way in hell I would wait two minutes on hold with emergency services less 15 minutes! How can you just sit there and watch your daughter suffocate to death? Her mother has some of the blame in this. The system is obviously broke, but have some common sense.