Tasmania Police assistant commissioner Adrian Bodnar was moved to tears when describing the efforts of first responders who tried to save six children on December 16, 2021.
Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Zane Mellor were killed when a freak wind gust lifted the castle into the air.
An inquest is examining issues including the castle's set-up, weather monitoring and whether there were state department shortcomings.
Zane's mother, Georgie Burt, earlier told the inquest she was incorrectly informed he had been taken to a nearby hospital.
Ms Burt later found out the 12-year-old had died on the school's oval. She was unable to see his body for three days.
Mr Bodnar said he was aware families of other victims were allowed to spend time with their children on the oval.
"It is particularly sad that Georgie wasn't given the same opportunity as other parents were," he said on Friday.
"On behalf of Tasmania Police, I would like to sincerely apologise to (Georgie) that she didn't have the opportunity to spend time with her son, like other families did."
Issues identifying the children led to miscommunication with parents.
One family was told their kid had died while they were still being treated.
Due to the extent of his injuries, Zane was initially misidentified by a teacher, Mr Bodnar said.
Mr Bodnar wasn't at the scene, but reviewed two hours of body-worn police camera footage from the day as well as written statements.
"It was chaotic," he said.
"But I was pleased and very proud of the efforts that our police officers made in working as part of a team, particularly when it came to performing CPR.
"I'm reminded of the looks of despair on people's faces. I can understand how mistakes were made.
"It is particularly saddening that we weren't able to do more, and for that I apologise. We did everything that we could to save those children."
There had been a "significant human cost", Mr Bodnar said, pointing out 11 officers had lodged workers' compensation claims since.
Watching the body-worn camera footage brought back memories of his attendance at the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, he said.
"Anything to do with children is clearly devastating and it shows that trauma doesn't go away," he said.
A police review of the jumping castle accident resulted in seven changes.
Those include vests being worn at emergency situations to better highlight chains of command.
Lawyers for families have made a formal application to make school staff give evidence at the inquest.
Families felt shut out by the school and were desperate for information as the inquest might be their "last chance", their lawyer Peter Hamilton said.
Several of the proposed witnesses had post-traumatic stress disorder and had already answered questions about the day via statements, lawyer for the state Greta Chen said.
Coroner Olivia McTaggart will make a decision on the application at a later date, likely ahead of the inquest's expected resumption in November.
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