It’s been a frustrating and worrying day for emergency workers, Telstra and Australians facing a crisis. Triple zero calls across the country have been failing, and the only advice has been try again.

Anna McGraw reports.

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Hundreds of people needing emergency services across Australia have been blocked from getting through.

A serious network issue has prevented Australians across the nation from calling triple zero.

A cable tower east of Orange was damaged by a lightening strike in the early hours of Friday morning.

Tony Gatley, New South Wales Ambulance Assistant Commissioner: “We initially had some calls come in around 2am this morning that were for Victoria and South Australia which we occasionally get.”

Vodafone says it is working with Telstra to fix the issue, but customers should continue to “just keep trying” to call through.

They acknowledge that some callers are outraged.

They are facing serious medical or safety issues and are being told to try again.

New South Wales police advise them to call triple zero first, but call 131 444 if they cannot get through.

Mark Walton, New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner: “Police and other emergency services don’t resolve much by being angry. We’re trying to be calm and working through problems as the community would expect us to.”

TPG Telecom operations officer Craig Levy says recent tests show more calls are getting through now.

The NSW Police and Telstra say updates will be provided on their Twitter accounts.

Anna McGraw, QUT News.