Ambulance Victoria has withdrawn a $1894 bill sent to a young family from Girgarre despite their calls to 000 going unanswered for more than 30 minutes.
Parents Ashley Walter and Tamika Franklin dialled 000 in May when their 15-month-old son, Lawson, had difficulty breathing and his face turned grey.
Instead of waiting on hold, they were forced to take matters into their own hands and desperately drove their son to Kyabram hospital — only to find the urgent care unit was closed.
Hospital staff contacted 000, and an ambulance eventually arrived at the hospital, but the family were told they would have to wait even longer, as a MICA paramedic was required.
Lawson stopped breathing a further four times before finally being treated at Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton. He was then transferred to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and was cleared of any permanent injury.
“He’s going well, he has some more appointments and some more check-ups, but at this stage he’s going well,” Mr Walter said.
Less than a month after the harrowing ordeal, the family received the bill for 000 management and triage and the ambulance they eventually got from Kyabram.
Opposition leader Matthew Guy said Premier Daniel Andrews should immediately apologise to the family.
“It is astounding that a bill would be sent to a family who were denied an ambulance when they needed one most,” Mr Guy said.
Ambulance Victoria executive director corporate services Garry Button confirmed the bill had been waived.
“Ambulance Victoria has spoken with the family to confirm that there is no fee payment required,” he said.
Mr Walter said on the day of the emergency he was unable to get through to 000 four times, and on the fifth try the call connected but then dropped out.
“On the sixth attempt, just before we arrived here (Kyabram), we got through, but we couldn’t get through to ambulance dispatch,” he said.
Shadow Health Minister Georgie Crozier said the government couldn’t be trusted to fix the health crisis it had created.
“Lawson’s story thankfully has a happy ending, but there are far too many others that don’t,” Ms Crozier said.