MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Fentanyl is a synthetic drug, and according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, it is approximately 100 times more powerful than morphine.
If ingested, injected, or absorbed, fentanyl can cause dizziness, nausea, and confusion.
A Menasha officer learned about the drug first-hand during a drug overdose death investigation in July, when he experienced symptoms consistent with fentanyl exposure.
Menasha Police Chief Tim Styka says his officer returned to work a couple of days after the incident.
“Certainly [he] has been very open and enjoys to talk about the experience from the facet that if others can learn from what he went through and not go down that road, that’s a win.”
The department has also learned from that incident and implemented changes, which include a safety kit for officers that includes goggles and gloves.
Those items are included in the state’s recommended guide on how first responders can avoid fentanyl exposure.
Some of the other guidelines include a first responder’s exposure risk levels.
For example, if there’s a moderate risk/high volume hazard, some of the items that should be used include a uniform and a face piece respirator.
The most recent numbers from the Centers for Disease Control’s drug overdose deaths in Wisconsin, involving synthetic opioids, show in 2014, 90 people died, and in 2015, 112 people died.
Those numbers do not include meth overdose deaths.
As for the Menasha Police Department, Styka continues to stress, safety is key for everyone involved.
“Making sure that we are prepared to be able to protect ourselves to protect the community,” he said.
