Police are taking a “hands off” approach in dealing with heroin abuse in Indiana, warning their officers not to risk exposing themselves for fear of accidental overdoses.
Police departments across the state are shifting policy due to the increasing prevalence of fatal chemicals found in heroin supplies. Dealers often cut the substance with fentanyl, a painkiller roughly 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, and carfentanil, an opioid used for tranquilizing elephants. A small amount of either of these substances inhaled or absorbed through the skin can spark an overdose, reports The Star Press.
Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle said its “it’s just not worth the risk.” In the chaos of a major drug bust, the powder can go airborne, poisoning exposed officers. Less than half a teaspoon of pure fentanyl is enough to kill 10 people.
An investigator in the city recently wrote in an arrest affidavit he did not test the substance in the field to, “avoid an accident overdose.”
“We’re obviously putting an emphasis on personal protective equipment,” Jason Rogers, the county’s executive director of emergency medical services and emergency management, told The Star Press. “We’re doing some specialty in-service training.”
Police departments across the country are taking similar measures to protect their officers from the mounting threat.
A police officer involved in an Ohio roadside heroin bust May 12 overdosed after he got powder all over his uniform during a search of a suspect’s car. An hour later, back at the police station, the officer passed out and became unresponsive. Fellow officers suspected he was suffering an overdose from fentanyl and gave him a dose of Narcan. It took emergency responders multiple attempts to revive the officer.
Police in heroin ravaged communities are also now carrying doses of the overdose reversal drug Narcan for their drug sniffing dogs, who face “serious risk of overdose” during a raid. The Hartford Police Department in Connecticut started carrying Narcan for their K-9 units in January, and many other departments in states across the country have followed.
Chuck Rosenberg, the acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency, is addressing the risks fentanyl poses to police and first responders at a press conference Tuesday.
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