Ambulance delay crisis, claim 000 call-takers Ambulance Employees Australia state secretary Steve McGhie says emergency call-takers and dispatchers are in the eye of the storm of a worsening ambulance crisis. SERIOUSLY ill Victorians have waited more than an hour for an ambulance in recent days, according to 000 call-takers engaged in an industrial dispute with the State Government. Speaking through Ambulance Employees Australia yesterday, emergency call-takers claim ambulance response times have blown out to 19 minutes, with several cases in the past four days extending much longer. Information distributed by the Ambulance Employees Australia yesterday claimed: AN 89-year-old woman in Blackburn South waited more than an hour for an ambulance after falling and being unable to move; A PREGNANT woman, 31, with severe abdominal pains waited more than two hours for an ambulance; A PARAPLEGIC, 78, who fell and was badly injured in Patterson Lakes, waited more than 90 minutes. Emergency call-takers and dispatchers are in the eye of the storm of our worsening ambulance crisis. The crisis is right there on their computer screens every moment of every day," Ambulance Employees Australia State Secretary Steve McGhie said.