A veteran paramedic has been fired after trying to remove a ping pong ball from inside a woman’s body in an action his employers described as “inappropriate.”
Bryce Duggan joined Ambulance Tasmania in 1977 but was sacked after carrying out an “inappropriate” examination at the woman’s home in December 2020.
According to a decision by the Tasmanian Industrial Commission (TIC), Mr Duggan lost his job over the incident in June 2022 and subsequently filed a claim for unfair dismissal.
He says he never tried to remove the ball and that it was “quite common” for paramedics to help dislodge items such as Lego, insects and sex toys.
After arriving at the woman’s home at 4.40am, Mr Duggan examined her with a torch and a pair of Magill tweezers to see if he could remove the object.
In her statement to investigators, she said a volunteer ambulance officer assisted and was present throughout the examination.
He said the patient was adamant she did not want to go to hospital and wanted Mr Duggan to try to take the ball away from her before she considered going.
“The patient told me she wanted me to look at where the object was to determine if I could remove it,” Duggan said in her statement.
A veteran paramedic has been sacked after trying to remove a ping pong ball from inside a woman’s body in a move his employers described as “inappropriate” (file image)
Mr Duggan said he told the woman there was more appropriate equipment to deal with the problem at the hospital and transferred her to the Royal Hobart Hospital (pictured).
“I told him I would take a look at it, but if he found he couldn’t see the object, he would have to come to the hospital.”
Duggan said the McGill tongs, which he heated underwater, were the only equipment available during the call.
The former paramedic said he hit the ping pong ball with the tweezers and quickly realized it wouldn’t be easy to get out.
“I quickly removed the forceps and informed the patient that it would not be possible to remove the foreign object and that to do so would be beyond my duties and risk causing further harm,” he said in his statement.
Mr Duggan said he told the woman there was more appropriate equipment to treat the problem at the hospital and transported her to Royal Hobart Hospital.
Ambulance Tasmania said the nature examination carried out was “inappropriate” and not conduct that a paramedic should have carried out.
He also claimed that Mr Duggan’s attempts to remove the ball (something the former paramedic denies doing) were outside his practising authority.
“The defendant claims that this is a material breach and a valid reason for termination,” said TIC President David Barclay.
Ambulance Tasmania said the nature examination carried out was “inappropriate” and not conduct that a paramedic should have undertaken (file image)
Mr Barclay said Mr Duggan had attempted to play down unfavourable evidence and was “prone to exaggeration” regarding matters that were in his favour.
He discovered that there had been no need for paramedics to attend the home in the first place and that the patient had been classified as being in the lowest severity category.
Mr Barclay agreed with Ambulance Tasmania that Mr Duggan had attempted to remove the ping pong ball during the examination.
“Overall, I accept that he does not believe he did anything wrong even though he was not trained to remove the object, he did not have the tools to remove it and there was no urgency and therefore no need for him to attempt to remove the object,” Mr Barclay concluded.
“Particularly worrying is his inability to accept that he did anything wrong.”
Mr Barclay said the attempts to remove the ball were made without proper training or equipment and were outside his scope of practice.
Mr Barclay upheld the decision to terminate his employment, noting that Mr Duggan had a history of “inappropriate or questionable conduct” at work.
This opinion was formed after several incidents, including Duggan illegally carrying capsicum spray at work, using ambulances twice to spread manure on his property, and allegations of sexual harassment.
