General News
22 July, 2026
CALL DISTRESS
A TARNAGULLA mother weeks from giving birth to her second child tried for more than two hours to call an ambulance during last week’s Telstra outage.
A TARNAGULLA mother weeks from giving birth to her second child tried for more than two hours to call an ambulance during last week’s Telstra outage.
Caroline Michie said multiple attempts to phone 000 had been part of a terrifying ordeal after she experienced the first symptoms of a heart episode about 7.40am on Wednesday.
“I tried to call from about 8am but couldn’t get through,” Caroline said.
“I even contemplated having to drive to the hospital in Bendigo but I knew that wasn’t the safest of options.
“My heart rate was 200 beats a minute at the time.
“In the end I was able to contact my parents in Dunolly on social media and they finally got through to the ambos who treated me on the way to hospital, re-starting my heart to get it back to a normal rhythm.”
Caroline’s husband Josh was working in Melbourne and made the dash back to Bendigo when family was able to contact him as mobile and internet connectivity started to be restored by Telstra.
During the ordeal, Caroline was also trying to care for the couple’s daughter Fleur, 20 months, and work out how to contact clients at her pilates studio in Bendigo.
“It was a terrifying ordeal but we came through it.”
Caroline’s attempts to contact 000 were among hundreds of emergency calls reported to have not connected during the outage.
Telstra CEO Vicki Brady told customers on Monday: “We know how much people rely on us to keep in touch, do their work, run businesses and stay safe. It’s extremely frustrating when mobile services aren’t available, and we’re deeply sorry for the impact this had on so many people.”
“When something goes wrong, we’re committed to taking accountability, giving you clear information, and fixing issues as quickly as possible. We understand what caused the issue and will complete a full investigation and take what we learn to make our network stronger,” she said.
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