The male driver, who was suffering from chest pain, first called triple-zero after pulling over on Monday afternoon on Anzac Highway at Plympton.
After waiting 35 minutes, a bystander found the father in cardiac arrest and once again called triple-zero, and his case was upgraded as a priority one, the state’s Ambulance Employees Association said.
The bystander started CPR however the man died shortly after the first paramedic arrived on scene.
More than 40 minutes after the initial triple-zero call, paramedics were unable to resuscitate him.
At the time of the case, the union said the ambulance service declared an “Opstat White”, with 20 urgent cases left uncovered across the metropolitan area.