Sabah health director Dr Rose Nani Mudin said an initial emergency call was made to the Malaysian Emergency Response Services (MERS999) system at 12.06pm, but the line was cut while the caller was being diverted to the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital (QEH2) emergency call centre.

Rose added that the call was diverted by the MERS999 Regional Centre to the hospital’s call centre so that it could verify the case and get further details.

In a statement, she said six attempts by the regional centre and hospital’s call centre to contact the first caller again were unsuccessful.

“The caller could not be reached. This meant that an ambulance could not be dispatched as information on the location of the incident was unclear.

“At 1.01pm, MERS999 received a second call from a different caller, with the necessary information provided.

“First responders from QEH2 were dispatched at 1.04pm and arrived at the scene at 1.16pm,” she said.

Upon arrival, the first responders found that the man showed no vital signs and pronounced him dead.

Rose maintained that the department was committed to ensuring the best level of healthcare services was given to the public, especially to save lives.

“Therefore, we ask for cooperation from every caller and member of the public to give complete information when making emergency calls so that first responders can act quickly.”

Earlier, the Sabah-based Daily Express reported that an ambulance only arrived to help the man an hour after the MERS999 call was made.

This prompted a Warisan leader to question why emergency calls in Sabah to the MERS999 system were still being diverted to authorities in the peninsula.