Sydney has the slowest ambulances out of any capital city in Australia.

“Here is a fact that we should not be proud of,” says Ben Fordham.

And the latest figures confirm the states ambulances have become even slower.

For life-threatening emergencies – in 90 per cent of cases – the average response time in Sydney is 20 minutes.

That’s six minutes slower than Perth, which lead the capitals.

Due to shortfalls across the network, Ben has consistently lobbied for more paramedics, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian agreed.

“Sadly, lives are being lost while people wait,” says Ben.

NSW Ambulance Deputy Commissioner Dave Dutton says “we’re a big state, with a lot of ground to cover”.

“The reality is, we have got one of the largest land masses in Australia,” he tells Ben.

“There are different challenges in metropolitan Sydney than there are in some of our regional areas.

“We will make sure that we provide the quickest, most practical response to life-threatening emergencies. We always prioritise those jobs first”.

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