{"id":570123,"date":"2026-03-28T14:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570123\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T14:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:32:12","slug":"st-john-ambulance-nt-reaches-critical-failure-point-during-extraordinary-event-in-darwin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570123\/","title":{"rendered":"St John Ambulance NT reaches ‘critical failure point’ during ‘extraordinary event’ in Darwin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darwin’s ambulance service reached a “critical failure point” overnight as 61 Triple Zero (000) calls were abandoned and 29 life-threatening or urgent emergencies were left outstanding for periods up to five hours.<\/p>\n

St John Ambulance Northern Territory chief executive Abigail Trewin said shortly after midnight its service reached “operational capacity white” for the first time.<\/p>\n

By definition, an operational capacity white is a “critical system failure point where service demand cannot be met despite all mitigation strategies”.<\/p>\n

“There is a high likelihood of harm to patients and\/or staff, and significant risk to service continuity and organisational reputation,” the definition states.<\/p>\n

Between midnight and 7am, 144 Triple-Zero calls were received from Darwin and Palmerston, of which 61 were “abandoned”, Ms Trewin said.<\/p>\n

\"Triple<\/p>\n

More than 40 per cent of Triple Zero calls were abandoned overnight. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

When a call is abandoned, it is not able to be answered within 10 seconds and is reverted to Telstra.<\/p>\n

There were 14 priority one life-threatening cases that ambulances could not attend within the required 15 minutes, with one person waiting more than five hours.<\/p>\n

Fifteen priority two cases were also left outstanding. Priority two cases require a response within 30 minutes due to a potential risk to life.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Abigail Trewin has been St John’s chief executive for six weeks. (ABC News: Pete Garnish\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Patients deteriorated as they waited<\/p>\n

Ms Trewin said no-one died as a result of the delays, but the conditions of patients deteriorated as they waited.<\/p>\n

“Police held the scene at one of those jobs last night until the ambulance could arrive and that patient certainly deteriorated over 35 minutes that they waited and that’s just not OK,” she said.<\/p>\n

“My understanding was a person who was very unwell \u2026 proceeded to stop breathing over that time period \u2014 that’s a pretty significant event.<\/p>\n

“It’s not normal for that to happen, and you want an ambulance service to arrive to make a difference when it counts.”<\/p>\n

\"Circular<\/p>\n

St John NT is the territory’s contracted ambulance provider. (ABC News: Pete Garnish\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Delays offloading patients exceeded 60 minutes at Royal Darwin Hospital and one ambulance crew operated for almost 10 hours without a break, Ms Trewin said.<\/p>\n

She described last night as an “extraordinary event”.<\/p>\n

“We just simply could not get to every call that came out,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We have five ambulances in Darwin and Palmerston, so when you receive that many calls and have that many priority one cases, it’s devastating for just the call centre to be able to stay on the line and talk someone through that emergency, but know that it’s going to take hours before an ambulance can arrive.”<\/p>\n

Delays at NT hospital leaving ambulances unable to respond<\/a><\/p>\n

All five Darwin ambulances are at times unable to respond to emergencies due to delays paramedics face offloading patients at the NT’s largest hospital, St John Ambulance NT has revealed.<\/p>\n

Ms Trewin said Territorians should only call Triple Zero if they were “experiencing an emergency”.<\/p>\n

“If they are well enough to see their doctor, to travel to the hospital, I’m asking that you make that decision to assist us at this time,” Ms Trewin said.<\/p>\n

“St John Ambulance NT has experienced, over many months, a growing demand of its ambulance service, so much so that is putting now extreme challenges to our crews and our call centres to answer those Triple Zero calls.”<\/p>\n

She also said under current funding and service arrangements with the NT government, St John could not “guarantee that we can meet the needs of loved ones”.<\/p>\n

“There may be delays and we may not be able to get to you when you need us most,” Ms Trewin said.\"St<\/p>\n

St John is urging Territorians to only call an ambulance in emergency situations. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

‘Code red’ in Alice Springs<\/p>\n

In Alice Springs, where St John operates two ambulances, a paramedic was assaulted by a patient and had to be treated for injuries.<\/p>\n

It meant only one crew was servicing Alice Springs from just after 2am, leading to a “code red”.<\/p>\n

From 6pm to 7am in Alice Springs, 14 priority one, life-threatening emergencies were left outstanding, including five between 2am and 7am.<\/p>\n

All five of those cases waited more than one hour for an ambulance to respond.<\/p>\n

\"St<\/p>\n

Paramedics also faced delays offloading patients at Royal Darwin Hospital. (ABC News: Pete Garnish\u00a0)<\/p>\n

“It’s not unusual for St John to experience what we call a code red, meaning our resources are stretched to the very limit,” Ms Trewin said.<\/p>\n

“It’s almost a daily [occurrence] for us.”<\/p>\n

NT Health Minister Steve Edgington said the government remained “committed to addressing growing demand and providing long-term certainty in our ambulance contracts”.<\/p>\n

“I understand additional resources and support staff have been provided to St John to address the current pressure, and I have directed NT Health to work collaboratively with them through all parts of our health system,” he said.<\/p>\n

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