A man has died on Tasmania’s West Coast after waiting 78 minutes for an ambulance, the second such death this month to be investigated by the health department.
The man, believed to be in his 60s, called for an ambulance at Zeehan on Saturday morning. He had died by the time a crew arrived from Burnie, around 140km away.
It is understood he had complained of chest pains and breathing problems.
A Department of Health spokesperson said the Zeehan Ambulance Station “was not staffed at the time of the incident due to unfilled leave”.
Crews in Queenstown and Strahan were attending other cases.
“Attempts were made to fill the vacant shift through the usual backfilling arrangements, including overtime and the use of volunteers,” the spokesperson said.
“There are ongoing efforts to recruit more paramedics to the region, however the remoteness of the area does provide challenges.”
The department said the call was triaged as priority 1 and a Burnie crew was assigned straight away. An investigation will “identify any immediate actions required”, the spokeswoman said.
Labor MP Ella Haddad said it was “absolutely unthinkable that yet another Tasmanian has lost their life because of cuts to the health budget, cuts to their ambulance service”.
Health minister Bridget Archer said her thoughts were with the man.
“Any death that occurs is a tragedy and our hearts go out to any family and friends that are involved in that situation,” she said.
