Coroner Olivia McTaggart's damning report blames AT policies

Intensive care paramedic Damian Michael Crump died by suicide at Sorell in December, 2016, by consuming drugs stolen from AT headquarters in Hobart in the hours before his death.

In a report of an investigation published on Wednesday, Coroner Olivia McTaggart recommended that the agency begin random drug testing of its staff "as a matter of priority".

She also recommended the agency begin mandatory psychological assessments for paramedics.

The coronial inquest found that Mr Crump suffered from long-standing mental illness and had been taking drugs stolen from his employer.

Ms McTaggart described him as a "highly intelligent" paramedic who loved his work and "enthusiastically imparted his clinical knowledge".

"Mr Crump ended his life following a lengthy course of stealing dangerous drugs from AT, his employer," Ms McTaggart's report read.

Among the coroner's other recommendations were that Ambulance Tasmania:

*Review its policies to boost the security of its stored drugs;

*Implement all the recommendations from AT's own internal investigations into the incident "as a matter of priority";

*Publish on its website a report setting out the progress of the 73 action items from AT's July 2022 Culture Improvement Action Plan, indicating whether they have been completed and the timeframes for doing so.

The investigation found that some AT staff knew of Mr Crump's drug use and mental illness, and that he had plans to commit suicide before the age of 40.

The report read: "This was not taken further as a welfare issue, despite his deteriorating mental state."

AT failed to detect the missing drugs stolen by Mr Crump and used in his suicide, despite the fact that he was a suspect in previous drug thefts, the report stated.

AT also failed to take action to boost security at its drug storage after thefts were reported in 2012 and 2014.

The coronial investigation highlighted "severe resourcing deficits" within AT, including insufficient numbers of managers, each overseeing more than 300 staff.

Greens Leader Cassy O'Connor said the government needed to "immediately" introduce regular psychological assessments for AT employees.

"Paramedics' life-saving work should not come at the cost of their own - nor their wellbeing," she said.

Ambulance Tasmania chief executive officer Jordan Emery said the agency would "take time to carefully consider" the inquest recommendations.

"We've made very significant changes as a result of Damian's death, and taken learnings from his death, and we will continue to make those changes to ensure our organisation is safe in the years ahead."

If you or someone you know has been affected by this story, please call:

Lifeline 13 11 14 also lifeline.org.au

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467

Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 also beyondblue.org.au

MensLine 1300 789 978 also mensline.org.au

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