Recently released news once again bring to attention the potentially deadly effects of the opioid fentanyl. Last Friday, May 12th, an Ohio police officer accidentally overdosed after a drug bust carried out that night.
Chris Green is one of the patrolmen part of the East Liverpool police force. On Friday night, he was called into action to inspect suspected of being involved in a recent drug transaction. During this procedure, the officer was careful and wore both a mask and the regulation gloves. According to reports, the car was covered in a white powder.
Ohio Police Officer Close To Dying Because of a Deadly Stain
Back at the station, as the officers were questioning the car owner, one of them pointed to a stain on Green’s shirt. As the man brushed it off with his bare hand, he then started feeling queasy. Within minutes, Green was already on the floor and feeling the effects of the drug.
“I started talking weird. I slowly felt my body shutting down. I could hear them talking, but I couldn’t respond. I was in total shock,” stated Green for a media report.
Luckily, paramedics were already at the scene as they were taking care of the driver of the car, also exposed to the drug. As they saw him fall, they then turned their attention to Green and administered a dose of Narcan. This is capable of reversing the effects of an opioid overdose and is used in emergency cases.
Green was then transported to the hospital and further taken care of. The Ohio police officer reportedly received 3 other doses of Narcan to counteract the effects of his accidental overdose.
The East Liverpool Police Chief, John Lane, released a statement on the matter in which he drew attention to the lethal effects of fentanyl. As the Chief pointed out, both the police officer and the driver could have died if they had been alone. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid some 100 times more powerful than heroin. Fental powder, the cause behind this potentially deadly incident, is so potent that it can become lethal and kill from just a touch.
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