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A woman in her late 90s has been found dead in her home after waiting hours for paramedics to respond to her calls for help.
The elderly woman, who lived alone in Melbourne’s west, had a suspected fall at about 4.30am on Friday with her personal medical alarm triggering a response that prompted a call to Triple Zero soon after.
Two sources with knowledge of the incident, but not authorised to speak publicly, said call-takers could hear the elderly woman crying out in pain when they first made contact with her in the early hours.
A Triple Zero call was forwarded to Ambulance Victoria and emergency dispatchers made multiple attempts to phone a number connected to the medical alarm over the next two hours but they went unanswered.
Paramedics arrived at the home about 7.30am – almost three hours after the alert was raised – but were initially unable to access the property.
Once Fire Rescue Victoria staff arrived at the scene and gained entry to the home, the woman was found dead inside and police were called to attend.
One of the sources said it was an extremely distressing situation with staff at the scene clearly upset.
Neighbours said the elderly woman had lived at the home for more than 30 years while her family resided in other parts of the state and overseas.
They said the woman had continued to live independently at the property, despite her age, with the help of a nurse who visited regularly.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said they would prepare a report for the coroner on the 98-year-old’s death.
“The death is not being treated as suspicious,” they said.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said they had contacted the patient’s family to offer their condolences while the case is reviewed.
“We have reached out to the patient’s family and are reviewing this case to fully understand the circumstances,” the spokesperson said.
In 2022, this masthead revealed a series of other deaths linked to persistent Triple-Zero delays, including toddlers involved in drownings, where in one case it took almost six minutes for the call to connect, and another where several calls never connected.
The government then announced the state budget had allocated an extra $101.9 million to upgrade Triple Zero Victoria’s telephone infrastructure.
In 2023, a parliamentary committee was told at least 20 people had died waiting for an ambulance since 2020. These are defined as incidents where a patient has called an ambulance, but one was not available in time.
A separate report into Victoria’s triple-zero service previously found that 33 Victorians died from emergencies linked to delays in answering calls between December 2020 and May 2022.
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