Errors are continuing to plague cardiac monitoring equipment in ACT ambulances, in one case failing during the treatment of a retired senior ambulance manager who has now formally complained about delays to his care.
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The $3.8 million cardiac monitor/defibrillators bought by the ACT government have been riddled with problems since they were deployed in the ambulance fleet, following months of testing and staff training.
Canberrans were assured in February last year the problems were fixed after manufacturer Philips provided major software updates and flew in its staff for support.
There have since been another 14 reported failures with Bluetooth connectivity and the digital transmission of electrocardiograph information, a function that helps hospital staff prepare for a patient's arrival.
The Emergency Services Agency says the problems are not compromising patient care, and that other fail-safes - phoning hospital staff or sending picture messages of electrocardiograph information - are working.
But, in a bizarre twist, Fairfax Media understands a now-retired ACT Ambulance Service operations manager has lodged a formal complaint about the failure of the equipment and delays to his own treatment.
The man, who once acted as a general manager in the service, suffered chest pain and shortness of breath on a flight to Canberra earlier this year, and an ambulance was dispatched to meet the plane at Canberra Airport.
The equipment failed to transmit information about his condition and, despite phone calls to Canberra Hospital, staff had not prepared a cath lab for his arrival, which is needed to image and help treat the heart.
His complaint alleges his treatment was delayed by between 30 minutes to an hour.
Time is critical in such cases, and delays can cause further death of heart muscle, hence the common advice "time is muscle".
In the event of failure, paramedics have been instructed to use their mobile phones to take a picture of electrocardiograph information and send it via multimedia text message.
They also call the hospital's admitting officer to talk about the incoming patient, irrespective of whether the equipment fails, an ESA spokesman said.
"The ability to send the ECG results to the hospital does not affect the high level of care provided to patients by ACTAS paramedics," he said.
The spokesman said it was not possible to guarantee that transmission of the electrocardiograph (ECG) information would always be successful.
"Successful transmission of the ECG is reliant on a number of factors one of which includes the availability of a mobile phone network signal for transmission to occur.
"This is not always available in the pre-hospital environment."
Former Emergency Services Minister Simon Corbell described the equipment as "the most essential piece of life-saving equipment carried on board all of our ambulance vehicles" in 2013.
He also made the assurances that the equipment was fixed in February last year, saying:
"The technical problems associated with the ACT Ambulance Service's new cardiac monitors last year were fixed with the assistance of the supplier."
Mr Corbell has since been replaced by new Emergency Services Minister Joy Burch.
The ACT Ambulance Service is now monitoring changes to electrocardiograph notification protocols in other states and territories and is continuing "discussions with ACT Health" over the issue, an ESA spokesman said.
The ACT government spent $3.8million over four years on the 56 cardiac monitors/defibrillators to replace models that had reached the end of their useful life.
The gear was put through two months of field testing and three weeks of demonstration in staff training, but a series of problems, including the transmission failures, were seen when they were put in to use on the street.
