Melbourne man dies after four-hour wait for ambulance amid major shortage

Devastated friends and family are demanding answers after an elderly man died a painful and lonely death while waiting hours for an ambulance.

Neighbours called emergency services around 2am on Sunday after hearing Philip Burne screaming for help after he suffered a nasty fall.

Due to limited resources, emergency workers were unable to arrive at his home in Surrey Hills, in Melbourne’s west, until 6am.

But then it was too late.

Mr Burne, 69, was a regular at Ringwood RSL, where friends gathered for a beer in his honour on Monday.

But they are also angry at the thought that his tragic death might have been prevented if more Victoria ambulances had been on the road on Saturday night.

At least 50 crews across the state were sidelined due to the large number of sick emergency workers.

“Four hours is absolutely ridiculous,” a friend told me Nine news.

Philip Burne died after waiting four hours for an ambulance on Sunday morning

At least 50 teams across the state were out of action during service due to a large number of sick paramedics

“He was one of us.”

Club member David Jamieson added: ‘It’s pretty awful for someone to be lying on the floor of a house and having to wait four hours for an ambulance without being able to call anyone.

‘The older group is dependent on emergency services to ensure their health needs are met.

“If it fails, it can be catastrophic, as in this case. It’s really sad and frankly, we all need to do better.”

Ambulance Victoria has launched an investigation into the death of Mr Burne. The investigation will be referred to the coroner.

“Demand is high at the moment but we are prioritising the care of the sickest and most vulnerable patients in the community,” Ambulance Victoria acting chief executive Danielle North told reporters.

“We definitely experienced an increase in personal leave over the weekend, it was unpredictable how much we received.”

By the time the ambulance arrived at Mr. Burne’s house (pictured), it was too late

Questions have been raised because Ambulance Victoria did not activate a code orange, which would have triggered additional measures to assist emergency services.

Victorian Ambulance Union general secretary Danny Hill said the severe shortage had left overworked paramedics “burned out and exhausted”.

“You’re always going to have higher absenteeism, more people getting sick when teams aren’t getting breaks, aren’t finishing work on time and the workload is getting out of hand,” he said.

He previously described Burne’s death as “incredibly sad”, not only for his family but also for the ambulance staff trying to help patients.

He also admitted that the tragedy could have been prevented.

“But because resources are so limited and the workload is so great, it has simply become impossible,” Hill told the Herald Sun.

‘You can never predict what would have happened if the emergency services had arrived earlier.

‘But, judging by all the reports, he did shout, so you would think the situation would have been very different if we had gotten to that gentleman in time.’