Toowoomba flood inquiry hears victim Donna Rice’s triple-0 call given low priority

donna rice

SWEPT AWAY: Toowoomba flood victims Donna and Jordan Rice – pictured on their funeral program – who had sought emergency help when they were stranded by rising waters. Picture: Megan Slade.
Source: The Courier-Mail


John Tyson  Blake Rice

LOSS: John Tyson and Blake Rice, 11,  outside the coronial inquest yesterday. Pic: Sarah Marshall
Source: The Courier-Mail




TOOWOOMBA flood victim Donna Rice could have been attended to by emergency services more quickly if her desperate triple zero call was prioritised by a call centre operator, an inquest heard yesterday.


It wasn’t until her son Jordan, 13, phoned the emergency hotline several minutes later on January 10, the day they were swept to their deaths, that three fire units were dispatched. But it was too late by the time emergency services reached the pair.

An inquest into the deaths of 25 flood victims, three of whom remain missing, began at the Coroner’s Court in Brisbane yesterday.

Detective Inspector David Isherwood, a relieving regional crime co-ordinator during the floods, said the call made by Mrs Rice minutes before she was swept to her death was classed by Senior Constable Jason Wheeler as a priority three call, otherwise known as a “routine call”.

When asked if, had the call been given a higher code priority, police would have attended more quickly, he responded: “It’s possible”.

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donna rice


Donna Rice






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Insp Isherwood said there was “no urgency” in the voice of Mrs Rice when she made the call, compared with a call by her son Jordan several minutes later. Jordan had a “great degree of urgency” in his voice.

Six Queensland Fire and Rescue Service units were in operation in the area on the day and were dispatched to the scene where they found the family trapped in floodwaters.

Mrs Rice’s husband John Tyson and her 11-year-old son Blake were at yesterday’s inquest. State Coroner Michael Barnes is overseeing the inquest, which is due to finish today.

He will determine when and how each of the flood victims died.

He will also look at whether there has been an increase in suicides because of the floods.

Australian Institute for Suicide Research Professor Diego De Leo is due to give evidence tomorrow.

The court heard a separate inquest would be held in February into the death of four-year-old Jesse Wickman, who was swept away in floodwaters at Minden.

 

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