Four cardiac patients die during long wait for paramedics Ambulances line up at the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton. FOUR heart attack victims died last week while awaiting help from paramedics. An Ambulance Victoria manager yesterday admitted the waiting times of 18-22 minutes, were unacceptable, and Premier Denis Napthine promised each would be investigated. "Clearly those who have lost loved ones, our hearts go out to them and we have sympathy and empathy for those families," Dr Napthine said. And we can say to those families that Ambulance Victoria will investigate each of those cases On Thursday, a Warrangandall man in his 60s died while waiting more than 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive from Cobram. Also on Thursday, a Gillieston woman died while waiting 22 minutes for a Shepparton ambulance to reach her. Ambulances are queued outside Frankston Hospital waiting to off-load patients. On Friday, a 60-year-old man in Riddells Creek died during an 18-minute wait. The Gisborne ambulance, normally closest, was in Kyneton at the time. On Saturday, a 63-year-old Rochester man undergoing CPR died after waiting 22 minutes for an ambulance. Among 18 cases raised by the State Opposition yesterday was that of a 75-year-old man from Molyullah, who waited five hours for an ambulance, following a fall, and was eventually transferred with life-threatening injuries. Ambulance Victoria regional services general manager Tony Walker said the cases would be reviewed. "Twenty-two minutes for a cardiac arrest is not an acceptable response time; I wouldn't even try to defend that," Mr Walker said. Labor's parliamentary secretary for health, Wade Noonan, said the weekend crises showed Dr Napthine had lost control of the health system. Four patients have died while waiting for ambulances in Victoria. "The Napthine Government is failing to meet its own benchmark, with one in four ambulances failing to respond to life-threatening emergencies within the 15-minute target," Mr Noonan said. Even Ambulance Victoria admitted today it is under unprecedented pressure. A spokesman for Health Minister David Davis said legitimate concerns about service quality were being investigated by Ambulance Victoria. "Cases where a death may have occurred due to a procedural issue or delay will be dealt with appropriately," he said. He said the Government had invested a record $662 million in Ambulance Victoria and had recruited 465 more paramedics.