Opioid crisis creates new risk for cops: overdose from exposure

Kevin Phillips pulled up to investigate a suspected opioid overdose, paramedics were already at the Maryland home giving a man the overdose reversal drug Narcan.

Carfentanil came to mind because just hours earlier, Phillips’ boss, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, sent an email to deputies saying the synthetic opioid so powerful that it’s used to tranquilize elephants had, for the first time ever, showed up in a toxicology report from a fatal overdose in the county.

Carfentanil and fentanyl are driving forces in the most deadly drug epidemic the United States has ever seen.

Because of their potency, it’s not just addicts who are increasingly at risk — it’s those tasked with saving lives and investigating the illegal trade.

Earlier this month, an Ohio officer overdosed in a police station after brushing off with a bare hand a trace of white powder left from a drug scene.

Last fall, 11 SWAT officers in Hartford, Conn., were sickened after a flash-bang grenade sent particles of heroin and fentanyl airborne.

Gahler has since spent $5,000 for 100 kits that include a protective suit, booties, gloves, and face masks.