South Australia Police have debunked a claim made by Liberal Senator Kerrynne Liddle that a woman died during a nationwide Telstra outage due to a failure to connect to emergency services. Police investigations have determined that no such failure occurred.
Senator Liddle's office had reported a "tragic death following an apparent failure to connect to Triple Zero during a life-or-death emergency" on Wednesday. She stated that the death of an elderly South Australian represented a "devastating failure for their family."
However, SA Police issued a statement on Friday confirming their investigation ruled out any suggestion that calls to emergency services had failed. The police condemned the public airing of the family's grief, noting, "This is a distressing time for the family of the deceased woman. They have lost a cherished member of their family and are grieving. It is unfortunate their loved one’s death was placed in the public arena in the manner it was when it need not have been."
Police launched their investigation after the claim was made on social media and following the provision of further information by those responsible for the online post, which alleged an attempt to call 000 had failed.
According to the timeline provided by SA Police, the woman was found unconscious at home on Wednesday, July 8, following a medical episode at 10 a.m. Her partner successfully called a neighbor using his Telstra mobile phone. The neighbor, possessing medical experience, attended the scene and assessed the woman. Subsequently, the neighbor called Triple Zero using their Telstra mobile phone to request an ambulance, and this call connected without issue.
An ambulance arrived shortly after the call and transported the woman to a local hospital, where she passed away several hours later. The specific circumstances leading to the woman's death were not disclosed by police.