![Leone Bland, 79, called triple-zero on Monday, when her husband Robert had a cough, temperature and stopped being able to move around on his walker, but says she was told no ambulance could be sent. Picture by Robert Peet. Leone Bland, 79, called triple-zero on Monday, when her husband Robert had a cough, temperature and stopped being able to move around on his walker, but says she was told no ambulance could be sent. Picture by Robert Peet.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/HcD9H4nNcktxiWcmkEEpQD/3db78f06-61f7-48f7-bf89-15ff044eb0f2.jpg/r0_302_5472_3398_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
An elderly woman says she was told she would be unable to get an ambulance for her 89-year-old husband this week, even as he was unable to walk and rapidly deteriorating with COVID-19 symptoms.
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Leone Bland, 79, of Austinmer in NSW's Illawarra region, says she called triple-zero around 11.30am on Monday, when her husband Robert had a cough, temperature and stopped being able to move around on his walker.
While he tested negative on a RAT, she believe he needed urgent help and said she was unable to lift him or get him to a car because of their size difference and her own medical conditions, so called for an ambulance.
"[The operator] said 'we can't send an ambulance but I'll put you on to someone who can talk you through it'," Mrs Bland said.
"The lady they put on got me to put my phone up close to his chest, and then after we got off the phone I got a text message to say if he's not better in two hours I should call a doctor.
"I had already called to see if I could have a telephone consult, but trying to get in to se a GP is just sheer impossibility and the radio doctor doesn't start until about 6pm."
She said she had not called the ambulance lightly, and had exhausted all the other options she had at the time to seek medical treatment for her husband.
"Robert was shivering, and his temperature was rising, so I thought I just have to get him to hospital, he would have deteriorated," she said.
"It was very traumatic. I sort of felt like they were saying we should just stay here and die, and I knew it was just up to me to make sure he was okay. It was just devastating."
That afternoon, Mrs Bland was able to get her son to leave work early and help to lift Mr Bland into the car, so they could take him to Bulli Urgent Care Centre.
From there, he was immediately sent to the Wollongong emergency department, where a PCR test confirmed he did have COVID. Four days later, he remains in a ward in Wollongong on antivirals.
"I'm just glad he's now in the best place for him to get better," Mrs Bland said.
"But I just thought, how can there be no ambulance?"
"A couple of years ago when he was sick with sepsis, we had to call the ambulance and they came and the paramedics assessed him and lifted him into the ambulance and took him to hospital. It's so different now."
Mrs Bland said she was sympathetic to paramedics, who since Tuesday have been taking industrial action where they have vowed to leave stable patients unsupervised at the ED.
Union members are taking action in the lead up to the election to draw attention to the pressures they face, including bed block, or ramping, which takes them off the road for other jobs.
"I would have been happy if they could have left us there, I could have driven in myself and waited with him if we could just get in there," she said.
"I know they are stretched and they don't have the time to stay with people, but I just wanted to be able to get him to hospital."
A NSW Ambulance apologised for "the distress experienced by the patient and their loved ones in this case".
They said requests for ambulances were "triaged according to urgency and clinical need to ensure the most appropriate response to all patients, based on the patient's presenting symptoms".
"On Monday, 20 March 2023, NSW Ambulance received a triple-zero (000) call for a man who was reported to be feeling unwell," the spokesperson said.
"Based on the information provided by the caller, it was determined the patient did not require an ambulance response and the call was referred to a registered nurse at Healthdirect."
"If the registered nurse identifies that an ambulance is required, the caller is transferred back to NSW Ambulance to organise an ambulance response.
"This system helps NSW Ambulance ensure it responds to all urgent and/or life-threatening incidents."
Mrs Bland said she had seen media reports this week about how the state's ambulance commissioner organised for Dominic Perrottet's sick wife to be transported to hospital when she was in pain last month.
"It seems like there's two sets of rules," Mrs Bland said.
"If he's in charge of the state, then he should be in charge of changing things for everyone."
According to Mr Perrottet, his wife was in pain throughout the morning of February 14 , and her condition deteriorated while she was at home during the day.
He was at work when he called Health Minister Brad Hazzard who happened to be with Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan, who then organised for a "low-priority" ambulance to be sent to the premier's Sydney home.
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He said he contacted Mr Hazzard directly, as opposed to calling a doctor, because the pair speak regularly, and he trusts his advice.
"He's a friend and somebody who has been around health for many, many years and he's somebody who I speak to regularly," the premier said.
"Particularly with going through COVID ... you don't want to go to hospital unless you need to go to hospital."
Mr Hazzard was in a car with Mr Morgan and a senior medical specialist, who on speakerphone advised Mrs Perrottet may have suffered a spinal injury.
The premier said Mr Morgan classified the ambulance as "low priority" and it arrived at his home in about 40 minutes.
Asked if he would release call logs to verify the information asked of him, the premier said he would have to seek advice from NSW Health.
"I've been completely transparent in relation to this situation," he said.
- with Australian Associated Press