Ambulance Dispatchers hung by the media

When you dial 000 you expect the emergency medical dispatcher to have the skills and training required to assist in your time of need however according to the Courier-Mail dispatchers are too focused on their food instead of helping their patients.

A follow-up article by the Courier-Mail on 1 April claimed a man died after medical dispatchers wrongly classed his injuries as non-life threatening, which resulted in the wrong class of paramedics being dispatched until 40 minutes after the initial call. However the Courier-Mail neglected to mention that that the first Ambulance unit was on scene within 15 minutes as previously stated in an earlier story on the 30 March.

Ambulance dispatchers hung by the media.

This tactic of covering up details of a story to entice readership is commonly seen with media outlets. The outlet's 30 March story received over 140 comments while their 1 April story has so far received 180.

Follow-up statements from the Department of Community Safety (DCS), have condemned the allegations denying that the QAS attempted to cover-up the case.

"The QAS proactively reported this incident to the Office of the Coroner on the same day it occurred," a statement on the DCS website read.

"The QAS also notified the Health Quality and Complaints Commission (HQCC) of this incident and commenced an internal investigation."

 The HQCC after reviewing the incident agreed that public safety issues had been identified all maters had been resolved and therefore no further action was taken in relation to the incident.

"Although public safety issues has been identified, all matters have been addressed internally, therefore the HQCC have decided to take no further action in relation to this incident," the HQCC wrote on the 18 July 2012.

The HQCC later closed the case on the 8 of August saying although there was a delay in the QAS response time, Mr XXX's injuries were un-survivable.

"Given the findings of the Forensic Crash Unit and those of the QAS, it is considered the holding of an inquest is unnecessary," the coroner said in correspondence with the DCS.

"The investigation has revealed how Mr XXX suffered his injuries.

"Although there was a delay in QAS response, his injuries were un-survivable and any delay did not change the tragic outcome.

 "In any event, recommendations have been made by the QAS to endeavour to provide that occurring in the future."

How well trained are our medical dispatchers? 

Queensland medical dispatchers have one of highest training requirements for EMDs. EMD's hold at least a Certificate III or IV in Ambulance Communication.

A source from the QAS said communication centers have continuous quality assurance programs in place.  

"Communication centres undergo continuous quality assurance and score very highly when benchmarked globally," the source said.

"The important thing is that when we are open about our shortcomings when they occur and learn from them."