Queens proxy switches on 911,911 phone, calls for help

Posted On August 15, 2021

A proxy has switched on 911 calls to help those in need as the NSW Police Department scrambles to get emergency services back online.

Key points:A 911 call was made in the city on Monday evening after the NSW Ambulance Service was inundated with callsThe NSW Ambulsary Service has been inundated and has been advised to dial 999 in an attempt to get services back up and runningThe NSW Police are also asking for the public’s help in locating a woman who may have been at the scene.

It’s understood the woman was on her way home after spending the night at a hostel in the CBD.

“It was a very, very difficult situation.

I had a number of calls to my phone and I couldn’t get on the phone,” one person who wished to remain anonymous told 7.30.”

I was actually on my way home from work, I had just finished my shift and I was at home when I heard this call on the speaker and thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s a 911 call’.”

A caller identified as “Tricia” was one of many people who called for help.

“The emergency services were on the way, I was on the platform, so I went out and saw the police and I thought ‘Oh, this is pretty good’,” she said.

“They’re calling for help and I’m calling the 911 and then I can just hear the police saying ‘No, we don’t have time to respond’.”

The caller said they had to turn off their phones as 911 rang.

“There were people crying, there were people screaming, there was a lot of screaming,” she said, “so I called the police, and they said they were on their way out.”

The emergency service was forced to call for backup as a number was dialed into their emergency line.

“That’s when I started to feel that something was wrong,” she added.

“And then I heard the emergency services say ‘No need to panic’.”

Police say the 911 call originated from the City of Sydney.

“Officers from the NSW Paramedic Service, the NSW Fire Service, and NSW Ambolic Services responded to the incident and were able to safely and quickly restore service,” a NSW Police spokesperson said in a statement.

“Emergency services were able use a variety of emergency response methods including a diversionary service, an automated emergency service and a controlled explosion to try and extinguish the fire and provide assistance to those who needed it.”

Police say they are now investigating the circumstances of the call.

Topics:fire,law-crime-and-justice,community-and the-media,health,carnival-land-4207,newcastle-2300,nsw