Waterford Police Officer Exposed to Fentanyl

A Waterford police officer was hospitalized on Monday after being exposed to fentanyl during a traffic stop.

Officers pulled over a vehicle on Boston Post Road and arrested the driver for drug possession, according to police.

While an officer was searching the suspect's car, he opened a container and was exposed to fentanyl, said Lt. David Burton of the Waterford Police Department.

“There was a release of powder in the air which he actually inhaled at that point,” Burton said.

That officer began to feel sick, light-headed and his heart began racing, Burton added.

The officer was taken by ambulance to the hospital. After a series of tests and monitoring, he was released and returned to work Tuesday, police said.

The suspect, Nicholas Constantine, of Charlestown, Rhode Island, is facing several drug charges.

Exposure to Fentanyl, a rapid-acting opioid, is a growing concern for officers, Burton said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl is hundreds of times more potent than heroin and inhaling or touching it could result in fatalities. 

All Waterford officers have personal protective equipment kits in their cars with booties, gloves, a face mask, googles and other tools, in case they are put in potentially hazardous situations.

“You’re focusing on the patient, you may not realize what is in the room with you,” said J.T. Dunn, the president of Common Cents EMS Supply, which supplies equipment to EMS organizations. Dunn is also a trained EMT with the Old Saybrook Fire Department.

Last fall, the state’s Office of Emergency Medical Services sent out information to EMS responders warning how dangerous fentanyl is, according to Dunn.

“I think public safety as a whole are more familiar with things that you may not be able to smell or taste,” Dunn said. “They’re used to responding to situations like that.”

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