Police Face New Threat In Accidental Overdoses
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Guns, knives, violent assaults.
Now a new threat to first responders is surfacing.
Alex DeMetrick reports, that threat is contacting, and accidentally overdosing on, a powerful narcotic.
Saving the lives of people who overdose is a growing part of the job for first responders like paramedics and police.
Last Friday, A sheriff's deputy responding to an overdose call in Harford County started feeling strange.
"He was feeling the effects that are usually associated with an overdose," Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said. "A dreary feeling, kind of faint and just not with it."
It's believed the deputy came into contact with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 50 times as powerful as heroin.
Earlier this month, it happened to Ohio police officer Chris Green. After stopping the car of suspected drug dealers, some of the white powder spilled inside and got onto his uniform.
Wiping it off transferred onto his skin.
"I fell backward and I'm trying to hold onto anything I can grasp," he said. He was given Narcan to stop the overdose, just like the Sheriff's Deputy received in Harford County.
"He was administered Narcan at the scene, transported to the hospital and seen and released that night, so he's doing well and just returned to full duty," Gahler said.
Just in the past week, there have been 11 overdoses in Harford County. Three of them were fatal. And for the year so far, 171 overdoses, 37 of which were fatal.
The potency of fentanyl has made it a game changer.
"It's not just a threat to the addict anymore," Gahler said. "It's a threat to all of us."
The Harford County Sheriff's Office is now researching what equipment and training may be needed to keep first responders safe from accidental overdoses.
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