A senior paramedic has been fired after he attempted to remove a ping-pong ball from a woman’s body, in what his employers described as “inappropriate” action.
Bryce Duggan joined Ambulance Tasmania in 1977 but was sacked after conducting an ‘improper’ examination at a 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 later brought an action for unfair dismissal.
He claims he never tried to remove the ball and that it was “quite normal” for rescuers to help dislodge objects such as Lego, insects and sex toys.
When Mr Duggan arrived at the woman’s home at 4.40am, he examined her with a flashlight and Magill tweezers to see if he could remove the object.
In his statement to investigators, he said a female volunteer ambulance worker assisted and was present throughout the investigation.
He said the patient absolutely did not want to think about going to hospital and wanted Mr Duggan to remove the testicle before she would consider going.
“The patient told me she wanted me to look at where the object was to determine if I could remove it,” Mr. Duggan said in his statement.
A senior paramedic has been fired after he attempted to remove a ping-pong ball from a woman’s body, an action criticised as ‘inappropriate’ by his employers (stock photo)
Mr Duggan said he told the woman there was more suitable equipment available at the hospital to treat the problem and took her to the Royal Hobart Hospital (pictured).
“I told her I would look into it, but if I concluded that I couldn’t visualize the object, she would have to come to the hospital.”
Mr Duggan said the McGill forceps, which he had warmed up underwater, were the only tool he had available during the call.
The former aid worker said he tapped the ping-pong ball with the pliers and quickly realized the ball wasn’t going to come out easily.
“I quickly removed the forceps and informed the patient that it was not possible to remove the foreign body. Attempting to do so would be beyond my remit and would risk further harming the patient,” the doctor said in his statement.
Mr Duggan said he told the woman there was better equipment available at the hospital to treat the problem and transferred her to the Royal Hobart Hospital.
Ambulance Tasmania said the investigation conducted into the nature of the injury was “inappropriate” and did not reflect the conduct a paramedic should have displayed.
It was also argued that Mr Duggan’s attempts to remove the ball – which the former paramedic denies doing – were beyond his authority.
“The defendant alleges that this is a serious breach and a valid reason for termination,” TIC Chairman David Barclay noted.
Ambulance Tasmania said the investigation conducted into the nature of the case was ‘inappropriate’ and not conduct a paramedic should have undertaken (stock image)
Mr Barclay said Mr Duggan had attempted to minimise unfavourable evidence and was “prone to exaggeration” when it came to matters in his favour.
He concluded that there had been no need for emergency services to come to the home initially and that the patient had been classified in the lowest category of severity.
Mr Barclay agreed with Ambulance Tasmania that Mr Duggan had attempted to remove the ping pong ball during the investigation.
‘Overall I accept that he does not believe he did anything wrong, even though he was not trained to remove the object, did not have the appropriate tools to remove the object and there was no urgency and therefore no need for him to attempt to remove the object,’ Mr Barclay concluded.
“His inability to admit that he has done anything wrong is particularly concerning.”
Mr Barclay noted that the attempts to remove the ball had been made without proper training or the correct instrument and that this was beyond his remit.
Mr Barclay upheld the decision to terminate his employment, noting that Mr Duggan had a history of “inappropriate or questionable conduct” at work.
The opinion arose after several incidents, including Mr Duggan’s unlawful possession of capsicum spray at work, his twice using an ambulance to spread manure on his property and allegations of sexual harassment.