He Called for Help; Help Came Too Late

There are distances that cannot be measured in kilometers. The Princess Alexandra Hospital sits just a few minutes from the Annerley home where a 53-year-old man called for help on a Saturday night, experiencing chest pains. He was triaged as a Code 1C emergency—potentially time-critical. Yet the ambulance that should have arrived within minutes took two hours. By then, he was dead inside his home .

The man's family learned of his death through media reports on Thursday. Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls apologized to them for the distress this caused, acknowledging that the department had no contact details for the man and that he was not known to Queensland Health . "One of the challenges that we faced was that the gentleman who passed away in Annerley was not known to Queensland Health and there were no contact details," Nicholls said. "I apologize to them if that has caused them distress" .

The tragedy unfolded on an unusually busy night for paramedics, with around 80 live jobs in the area . The man was asked whether he could make his own way to the hospital, given his proximity to Princess Alexandra, but he declined, citing his condition . A review into the incident has been ordered. "It is unacceptable, and I hope and expect that the critical incident review will provide us with answers as to how these circumstances occurred," Nicholls said .

The death is not isolated. Two days later, a man in his 80s died after waiting approximately three hours for a bed at Mater Hospital. He went into cardiac arrest shortly after being admitted, and though he had a do-not-resuscitate order, his death has added to the mounting concern about Queensland's ambulance and hospital system . Latest data shows 42 percent of patients arriving by ambulance at the state's 26 largest emergency departments waited more than 30 minutes to be transferred into hospital care .

The Australian Medical Association Queensland has pointed to bed blocking as a key cause of ambulance ramping, with at least 1,400 people waiting in hospitals for aged care or NDIS placements . "This is exactly what healthcare workers are afraid will happen when our services are really under the pump," said AMA Queensland's Maria Boulton . For the families of the two men, the reviews will come too late. For the system, the question is whether the lessons will arrive in time for the next call.

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Sources: ABC News Australia, 7NEWS, Daily Mail, Australian Associated Press