‘Frightened’ paramedics commended for ‘phenomenal’ response during Westfield Bondi Junction rampage

The first paramedic who entered Westfield Bondi Junction after the fatal rampage, knowing a second offender may have been inside, broke down on the stand in an emotional morning of evidence at an inquest.

Six people were killed and 10 others were injured by killer Joel Cauchi in the attack at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13, 2024.

Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia died in the incident.

Inspector Brett Simpson, who was the forward commander and first responding paramedic on the day of the fatal attack, broke down in tears while sitting in court on Friday morning,

“My deepest condolences to you and your families from me. I’d also like to note that a number of my staff and team that were on the day haven’t been called to give evidence expressed that I pass on their condolences to you as well. I’m sorry for your losses,” he said through tears.

He said he was told there was a slim chance there was a second offender when he arrived on scene about 3.42pm, but decided to go in anyway because he needed to get to the critically ill patients inside.

“I did that because based on the probability of the police officer saying he was fairly confident there was only one offender at that point and that he had been shot, and on the condition of the patients inside,” he said.

“(On the) balances of safety and for the patients, I decided to go in.”

However at 4.01pm he heard there may have been a second offender through a police broadcast.

“I started to panic because I thought that I put my staff in quite significant danger,” he said, tearing up.“A lot of them are my friends, so that was a very difficult moment.”

Of course, there was only one offender, which was later confirmed.

Paramedics ‘phenomenal’ actions

He thanked paramedics for their “phenomenal” actions on the day in an emotional address.

“They were frightened, we were all frightened, but they did not hesitate, they did not question my orders … my directives, they knew that what they were going into was a very serious incident,” he said.

“Not one of them hesitated, not one of them flinched.”

He said those working in dispatch “didn’t skip a beat” while co-ordinating and responding.

He thanked his senior managers for their support over the last 12 months.

“My discomfort is quite minimal compared to people who lost family and loved ones on that day, but it has not been an easy 12 months,” he said.

The court was told some of the paramedics who attended on the day were so committed to their patients they had trouble moving on, which Inspc. Simpson agreed with.

It is not suggested they did not adequately perform their duties.

Inspc. Simpson agreed a 10-second triage, which allows for the quick triage of patients, would be beneficial.

The court was told about the system using the term “category silver” rather than deceased for first responders on scene.

“I wouldn’t say that it was a problem, it was definitely a factor in that our crews are very well trained but in a situation like that when their bandwidth is completely and wholly exceeded by the environment they’re in, some of them potentially may not have felt comfortable in making that declaration (of deceased),” Inspc. Simpson said.

“That’s a role that I ended up performing … it was apparent to me that based on their injuries and what I saw of them that was in fact the case and being able to take that burden off of those crews …(so they could) conserve some of their supplies and move on and treat other patients.”

Family of Faraz thank paramedic

At about 4.28pm the area was officially declared a hot zone and all crews were directed out of the centre.

However, it has been made clear on several occasions that this did not have any affect on any patient outcomes, and all patients had been taken out of the centre by then.

“By that stage I was very confident given the discussions I’d had with police locally within the centre, and the fact that there seemed to be no more calls coming through, and no more reports or police physically approaching us saying ‘I’ve got this person’,” Inspc. Simpson said.

“I was very confident … that we had collected everyone.”

A lawyer speaking on behalf of security guard Faraz Tahir’s family thanked Inspc. Simpson for his courage.

“On behalf of the family of Faraz Tahir, thank you for treating him, thank you for treating every person you did on this day, thank you for your courage shown on this day, and every day,” he said.

“Thank you to every one of the ambulance officers who attended … Thank you to every ambulance officer that you have referred to.”

More to come …