The story reminded us of how dangerous first responders’ jobs are.
When a firefighter walks into a burning building or is otherwise exposed to the smoke, they are getting a dose of what could easily be cancer-causing chemicals. It’s not as if the putting-out fires part is without danger, but once the hard part is done, their exposure to toxic chemicals lives on, to possibly wreak havoc on their health later in life.
Police, as we saw from a story last week, have their own short- and long-term issues. Not only do they have to contend with the potential that someone in a car has a gun and a strong urge to use it, but they also have to deal with other potentially lethal unknowns.
A White Hall officer stopped a car full of people around midnight. As he questioned the occupants, they became antsy. He asked for and received permission to search the car. After the five occupants exited the car, he started digging around. In the end, he found a couple of pipes with residue on them that tested positive for fentanyl and methamphetamine. By then it was too late.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The potency of fentanyl is mind-boggling. It’s 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine as an analgesic. On a Drug Enforcement Administration website, there’s an image of a little dab of white powder, not enough to cover the lead at the end of a pencil. But that little dab is plenty enough to be lethal. So the “residue” that was found and that the officer touched or breathed or was otherwise exposed to was more than enough to cause problems.
The officer was said to have on protective gear, but it apparently wasn’t enough, because he soon found himself reeling and eventually passing out. To bring him back to consciousness, he got not one but two doses of a counteracting drug.
Then another officer who had been helping out started getting dizzy and sick for apparently the same reasons.
The situation was eventually resolved. The two officers were taken to the hospital where they were treated and released. The five in the car were taken to jail and are now being held in connection with charges of exposing someone to fentanyl, among other things.
But that’s what police have to deal with. Not that it happens once a day or once a week or month, but often enough to make everyone fearful. The problem is that officers don’t know when that is, and they can hardly go through each day wearing a hazmat suit. But on that day when it does happen, the results can be life-threatening.