Man dies in Adelaide after waiting half an hour for ambulance

A man has died in South Australia after waiting almost half an hour for an ambulance, raising fears the state's health system has been stretched after a horror weekend.

A woman in Adelaide's southern suburbs made an urgent Triple Zero call on Saturday afternoon, reporting her husband was dizzy and short of breath, but talking.

A solo paramedic arrived 17 minutes later. By that time, the man was in cardiac arrest and the call upgraded.

An actual ambulance did not arrive for another 10 minutes. The man could not be saved.

"Although we can't say for sure what the outcome might have been, we can say whatever chance that poor man had was eaten away by the long response time," Ambulance Employees Association's Phil Palmer told 9News.

Paramedics said it was just one incident in a horror weekend, with the union swamped with messages from crews revealing their dangerous stories.

The union said they were told it was a result of paramedics not having enough resources to cope with the demand.

"How does it make our members feel? Angry, frustrated, dismayed, disappointed, disillusioned," Mr Palmer said.

The entire system is struggling to cope, with many ambulances stuck on emergency ramps in recent weeks, and nearly 100 patients waiting for beds at the Royal Adelaide and Flinders hospitals today.

The heavy demand is taking place despite record low levels of flu in the community and only one active COVID-19 case in the state.

South Australia Premier Steven Marshall said SA Health was looking to cancel some elective surgery this week to free up space.

"You will always have fluctuations in demand, surges," Mr Marshall said.

"We had one on the weekend. We're working through those issues at the moment."