Ex-Canungra paramedic Wayne Fournier found to have engaged in professional misconduct

“Tired and just wanted to go home”: A former southeast Qld paramedic and SES volunteer has been found to have engaged in professional misconduct regarding two patients who received substandard care.

Gold Coast man Wayne Fournier, a long-time SES volunteer and former Canungra paramedic who now works as an excavator operator. Picture: Facebook

A former Scenic Rim paramedic has been found to have engaged in professional misconduct after two instances of sloppy care given to patients.

Among other lapses, Gold Coast man Wayne Fournier, who was based at Canungra Ambulance Station, did not appropriately question a patient’s decision to refuse transport, because the paramedic was “tired and just wanted to go home”.

The patient died the next day (Mr Fournier is not blamed for the death, or charged in relation to it).

The details are contained within a newly published decision of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, in which the Paramedicine Board of Australia sought for Mr Fournier to be reprimanded and temporarily disqualified from the profession.

The complaints against Mr Fournier stem from two episodes, on August 4–5, 2019, and August 7, 2019, both of which involved patients who subsequently died (again, Mr Fournier is not blamed for or charged over the death).

At 6.28pm on August 4, 2019, Mr Fournier and a colleague were dispatched to treat a 47-year-old male with an “extensive” medical history that included HIV and hepatitis C.

The patient was advised to go to hospital but said he would instead go to detox the next day and was left in the care of his mother, the tribunal said in its decision.

Mr Fournier recorded that the man’s “numbers are good”, but in fact they were “sub-optimal” and Mr Fournier did not recognise this.

Additionally, and crucially, Mr Fournier did not complete the Voluntary Informed Relevant Capacity Advice (VIRCA) documentation, which is required under Queensland Ambulance Service regulations in order for a patient’s refusal of transportation to be considered valid, during or immediately after the care episode.

“The respondent gave a number of reasons for this but effectively said that he was tired and just wanted to go home,” the tribunal said.

Wayne Fournier (left) alongside brother Brett, depicted here in 2007, were notable for both being paramedics and SES volunteers. Picture: File

The following morning at 2.55am, Mr Fournier and his colleague acknowledged a call for service regarding the same patient, who was undergoing an “altered loss of consciousness”.

However, according to the tribunal, the pair didn’t leave Canungra station until 3.13am – some 18 minutes after acknowledgment.

The patient was pronounced dead some time after their arrival.

Mr Fournier did not attempt the use of a defibrillator, against QAS clinical guidelines.

As Mr Fournier and his colleague awaited police, they completed the VIRCA documentation for the previous day’s interaction.

Several days later, on August 7, Mr Fournier and his colleague received a call for service at 12.43pm involving a 70-year-old woman who had entered cardiac arrest.

However, according to the tribunal, at the start of the shift Mr Fournier “did not carry out a mandatory vehicle inspection to ensure the ambulance was fully equipped with stock,” leading to an almost seven-minute detour to the station to replenish supplies before the pair arrived at the patient’s house.

Although a defibrillator was applied to the ailing woman, Mr Fournier admitted neither he nor his colleague bothered with CPR.

Mr Fournier admitted or partially admitted most of the allegations made against him, although he disputed some. The tribunal found all allegations substantiated.

The tribunal reprimanded Mr Fournier and prohibited him from providing health services for a period of two years from the decision, unless it was first aid in the context of his current employment as an excavator driver and volunteer State Emergency Service member.

Mr Fournier’s registration as a paramedic lapsed on January 1 last year. He had earlier, on August 14, 2020, given an undertaking not to “practise in any role requiring direct or indirect clinical patient contact”.

Originally published as Ex-Canungra paramedic Wayne Fournier found to have engaged in professional misconduct