The Victorian Government has responded to disturbing emergency call stats. 

An independent investigation has found at least 33 people died after delays with Victoria's triple-0 call-taking system.

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management, Tony Pearce, reviewed emergency calls from December 2020 to May 2022 and identified 33 deaths in 40 cases involving seriously ill and injured patients who experienced call answer delays.

The report says there has been an inadequate number of call-takers employed by the state's emergency telephone service, ESTA, and that a large number of calls during the COVID-19 pandemic were for non-life threatening cases.

The number of triple-0 calls almost doubled from an average of around 2,200 a day before the COVID-19 pandemic to nearly 4,000 at the peak of the Omicron surge.

From September 2021, the time it took ESTA to answer emergency calls significantly declined to 67.8 per cent before hitting its lowest point in January 2022, when it only answered 38 per cent of calls within the five-second target.

“It's not possible for me to conclude as to whether or not the call answer delay impacted upon the final outcome for those individuals. Only the coroner can do that,” Mr Pearce said. 

“The fact that the system was just not able to cope with what it was being presented with was the worst finding for me.

“To the families and friends of the people that are involved in these terrible events, I apologise.

“And I apologise if the expectations of the report are not going to meet each individual's desires to know individually what happened for their loved one.”

The audit found no fault with ESTA call-takers and dispatchers, who Mr Pearce noted were also suffering during the unfolding situation.

He has recommended ESTA's long-term funding be revised to ensure it will be adequately resourced in the future, and called for better community education about when to call triple-zero.

Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes says the state government accepts all the recommendations and has already invested over $333 million to ensure ESTA can meet future increases in calls, including employing more than 400 extra staff.

Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews has apologised on behalf of the government for the lives lost as a result of the overloaded system.

“We apologise for a system that did not meet your needs, we absolutely apologise and we appreciate just how challenging this will be for you,” he said.