Powerful Drugs Impacting Law Enforcement Officers And Paramedics

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney says it is becoming increasingly dangerous for law enforcement officers and paramedics to respond to scenes of drug overdoses especially if it involves the powerful drug Fentanyl. He says it takes less of a dose of Fentanyl to cause a fatal overdose. He says it can be absorbed through the skin and the gloves that law enforcement and first responders use. A Menasha police officer investigating an overdose Sunday morning experienced symptoms related to Fentanyl poisoning and required two doses of Narcan to recover. Toney says it is getting so that many law enforcement agencies won’t test substances suspected to be Fentanyl at their own facilities. He says they are just packaging them up and sending them to the state crime lab. State Attorney General Brad Schimel Tuesday directed the state crime lab to allow law enforcement officers to do their own field tests at the state crime lab rather than at an uncontrolled location. 

Photo from the Ripon Police Department shows how much of each opioid it takes to cause a fatal overdose.