EAST LIVERPOOL (AP) — Police say an eastern Ohio officer suffered an accidental overdose after a drug arrest when he touched powder on his shirt without realizing it was the powerful opioid fentanyl.
He was treated with the overdose reversal drug Narcan after brushing off the powder with his hand and passing out Friday in East Liverpool.
Fentanyl can be absorbed through the skin, and a few specks can kill an adult.
The officer had followed protocol and wore gloves and a mask when searching a car during the drug arrest but East Liverpool police Capt. Patrick Wright says the officer later instinctively wiped his shirt when another officer noticed powder on it.
Wright says the officer was fine by Sunday.