Josh Hamdorf told InDaily he performed CPR on the man who he found slumped over in his car at Plympton yesterday afternoon, after he’d pulled over suffering chest pain and called an ambulance.

“We dragged him out of the car and I started CPR until the ambulance arrived,” Hamdorf said.

“It’s really upsetting that he passed away.”

The SA Ambulance Service has confirmed the man waited 42 minutes for an ambulance during an afternoon of extreme demand, with an investigation into the “tragic” outcome now underway.

The paramedics union says the man called triple zero at 5.19pm yesterday after experiencing chest pain while driving and pulling over outside the Barnacle Bill restaurant on Anzac Highway.

At 5:19pm yesterday a 47yo male suffering chest pain pulled over & called 000 in Plympton. After 35m the patient was in cardiac arrest, a bystander started CPR. An ambulance finally arrived after 40m, tragically Paramedics were unable to resuscitate him.

— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) August 9, 2022

The union says the case was triaged as Priority 2 meaning an ambulance should have arrived within 16 minutes, but one didn’t arrive until 42 minutes after the call to triple zero.

The union says at 5.54pm – 35 minutes after the initial emergency call – a passerby found the man in a collapsed state, called triple zero and started CPR.

The union says the case was upgraded to a Priority One and an ambulance eventually arrived at 6.01pm – 42 minutes after the first call.

Hamdorf, a 22-year-old hotel waiter, said he was working at the Highway hotel when someone came running in asking for a defibrillator.

He and his manager ran across with a defibrillator to the ill man.

“He was slumped over in his car in the driver’s seat,” Hamdorf said.

“My manager put the defibrillator on him. It was coming up with no shockable rhythm so I made the decision to get him out of the car.

“We dragged him away from the car and I commenced CPR.

“Probably about five minutes later an extended care paramedic arrived and started administering drugs to help him so I kept going with CPR. Probably about 5-10 minutes after that another paramedic arrived.

“He took over CPR and I was helping just holding an IV drip.”

Hamdorf said shortly after that “another two ambulances arrived with probably three or four more paramedics and they all came in and I was just holding the IV drip – I think it was adrenaline”.

“The fire brigade rocked up and then about three police cars rocked up as well after that – it was pretty intense,” he said.

Ambulance Employees Associate state secretary Leah Watkins told InDaily “our ambos and the clinician who attended are devastated and angry that it’s happened again”.

“I commend the bystander who started first aid so quickly,” she said.

“He gave that gentleman a chance. He has tried and it’s a failure of the system that the ambulance service wasn’t there in the first place that would have meant he was never put in that situation.

“We do believe the government is trying everything they can to improve things.”

The union tweeted that at the same time as this case, there were 20 “uncovered life-threatening emergencies across Adelaide”.

“Ambulances ramped at all major hospitals some >6hrs,” the tweet says.

“This patient was only minutes away from hospital. Ramping deprived this patient of his best chance of survival.”

At the same time there were 20 uncovered life-threatening emergencies across Adelaide, SAAS was OPSTAT White. Ambulances ramped at all major hospitals some >6hrs. This patient was only minutes away from hospital. Ramping deprived this patient of his best chance of survival.

— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) August 9, 2022

The SA Ambulance Service confirmed the total wait time was 42 minutes and offered its “deepest condolences to the family of the gentleman who sadly passed away in Plympton yesterday”.

“Demand for ambulance services was incredibly high and we acknowledge that hospitals were also under significant pressure,” a spokesperson said.

“Delays are not acceptable and while our staff did everything they could, the outcome was a tragic one.

“It is deeply distressing for the family, bystanders and our staff at this time and we continue to bolster the workforce to ensure all those who need help get it.

“We are committed to delivering 350 new staff in coming years, with the first new crew comprising 28 ambos now on the road.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas said “there will be a thorough investigation” into the case.

“A relatively young man has tragically lost their life under circumstances that may have been preventable,” he said.

“My government has made it clear that addressing ambulance ramping – which has consequences in terms of ambulance response times – is a priority of ours.

“Which is why… we are dramatically ramping up the resources within the ambulance service so they don’t spend their time ramped and spend their time responding to callouts as quickly as possible.”

“We need to see ambulances responding on time.”