Current Events > accidental fentanyl exposure almost kills SD county deputy

(+) Yeah! (+)

The accidental fentanyl exposure hit San Diego County sheriffs Deputy David Faiivae quickly. It was an overdose. He was dying.
A body-worn video camera caught the moment Faiivae collapsed flat on his back in a San Marcos parking lot last month, seconds after he finished testing a white powder hed suspected was either cocaine or fentanyl.

The deputy stared into the sky, his lungs locked as he struggled for air. If not for a quick-thinking partner coming to his aid, he would be dead.

Faiivaes near-fatal overdose on July 3 was the subject of a 4-minute video released by the Sheriffs Department on Thursday.

The incident became part of the latest public warning about fentanyl, a drug blamed for 461 fatal overdoses in San Diego County in 2020 and which officials warn could kill 700 in 2021. The drug is an increasing problem among inmates in county jails as well.

Undersheriff Kelly Martinez said the body camera video prompted internal discussions about training and how it could be used in a public campaign to demonstrate the dangers of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.

We are still seeing it increasing all the time, Martinez said of fentanyl use.

In the body camera video, Faiivaes training officer, Cpl. Scott Crane, tells him the substance he found had tested positive for fentanyl and cautions him, that stuffs no joke it is super dangerous.

Faiivae then takes a step backward and topples over.

Crane checks on the deputy and then races to his patrol car for naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, a nasal spray used to reverse the effects of opioids. I ran over to him and I grabbed him, and he was ODing, Crane later recalled.

Crane sprays the medication into one of Faiivaes nostrils, then the other and moves to loosen Faiivaes bulletproof vest under his uniform shirt.

Just breathe, buddy, breathe, Crane tells Faiivae, according to the video. When he asks his trainee if he is OK, Faiivae replies in a weak voice: Im sorry.

Youre OK. Dont be sorry... I got you, OK? Crane says. Im not going to let you die. Im not going to let you die.

Faiivaes overdose happened around 4 p.m. in a parking lot in northern San Diego County during his first radio call of the day. The deputy works patrol out of the San Marcos sheriffs station. It was his final day of shadowing the veteran Crane, officials said.

Sheriffs officials are not sure if the fentanyl got onto the deputys skin or if he inhaled it.

Martinez, the undersheriff, credits Crane with having the antidote nearby while deputies tested the white powder. He saved his partners life that day, she said.

She also credited both deputies for agreeing to share their story to underscore the dangers of fentanyl.

We are having secondary exposures. Weve had toddlers exposed. Its just so very dangerous, she said.

On the video released Thursday, Sheriff Bill Gore calls fentanyl one of the greatest threats facing the region and country. Overdoses have soared in recent years, Gore said, and deputies are finding the drug in the community and in county jails.

Every week, sheriffs deputies intercept fentanyl, he said. When inmates overdose on fentanyl smuggled into our jails, deputies and nurses are saving dozens of lives every month by administering naloxone.

Law enforcement officials have long worried about officers being exposed to fentanyl, which can have dangerous effects even in small amounts. Some agencies use tools that allow officers to test suspected narcotics without opening packages and issue officers gloves and eye protection to lessen exposure risks.

Faiivae wore gloves as he tested the powder, Martinez said, and had just taken them off when he collapsed.

I remember not feeling right and then I fell back, Faiivae says on the video. I dont remember anything after that.

He recalls gasping for breath but says it felt like his lungs locked up.

Crane remembers wanting the deputy to focus on his breathing and reassuring him he wasnt alone.

After paramedics arrived, Faiivae was loaded into an ambulance and his eyes rolled back in his head. Crane said Faiivae overdosed the whole way to the hospital.

It is an invisible killer, Crane said. He would have died in that parking lot if he was alone.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-06/im-not-going-to-let-you-die-deputy-overdoses-after-coming-in-contact-with-fentanyl

shit's scary

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bump

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this happened to a friend of mine, her sister got arrested and she went through her purse after and ended up in the hospital

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Didn't doctors say that you can't absorb it through your skin unless the fentanyl is moist? Why were the cops not wearing gloves? I need answers.

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I call bullshit.

https://www.statnews.com/2017/08/09/fentanyl-falling-ill/

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Smells like bullshit to me.

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Lonestar2000 posted...

I call bullshit.

https://www.statnews.com/2017/08/09/fentanyl-falling-ill/

The article says he may have inhaled it.

So...

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pegusus123456 posted...

Smells like bullshit to me.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VPZ6fDZUtGE

he faked this you think?

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Stories like this make me question why they even manufacture that stuff.

WHY would you ever need to make a drug so strong that such a miniscule amount is enough to kill you?

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gunplagirl posted...

Didn't doctors say that you can't absorb it through your skin unless the fentanyl is moist? Why were the cops not wearing gloves? I need answers.

Faiivae wore gloves as he tested the powder, Martinez said, and had just taken them off when he collapsed
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Mearcstapa posted...

Stories like this make me question why they even manufacture that stuff.

WHY would you ever need to make a drug so strong that such a miniscule amount is enough to kill you?

For pain management obviously.

Without fentanyl id have been in a far worse level as hell when my diverticulitis almost killed me and then all over again following surgery.

Also don't ever googled carfentanil. That sbit practically makes fentanyl look like Tylenol.

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Mearcstapa posted...

Stories like this make me question why they even manufacture that stuff.

WHY would you ever need to make a drug so strong that such a miniscule amount is enough to kill you?

because it's supposed to be diluted or given in tiny doses

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Accidentally

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accidental

darkprince45 posted...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VPZ6fDZUtGE

he faked this you think?

And that poster was never seen again

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I deal with Fentanyl ODs all the time and that shit is scary. I burn through so much narcan every day.

That deputy could've been me >_> I feel like I need to be more careful after seeing that.

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The fucked up thing with Fentanyl is how easy it is to get for the cartels in Mexico. They're having them shipped from China and from there they begin cutting it with heroin.

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The officer had to be doing something stupid to get enough if a disease to OD. It's very deadly when ingested but it's not going to do much if you don't give it easy access.

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NeonOctopus posted...

I deal with Fentanyl ODs all the time and that shit is scary. I burn through so much narcan every day.

That deputy could've been me >_> I feel like I need to be more careful after seeing that.

My brother died from a fentanyl overdose, I never knew Narcan could be used to treat it until this topic though.

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Jesus.

Rest In Peace.

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ShineboxPhil posted...

The fucked up thing with Fentanyl is how easy it is to get for the cartels in Mexico. They're having them shipped from China and from there they begin cutting it with heroin.

Mexico? Its everywhere man.

Icluding my own backyard. Its even locally manufactured and directly imported from China to here as well.

Scary thing is the cops have even been finding heroin cut with carfentanil now. That stuff is deadly in absolutely miniscule doses.

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Vicious_Dios posted...

Jesus.

Rest In Peace.

luckily, he's still alive.

his partner's quick thinking most likely saved his life.

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I always heard just touching it was bad enough

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MorbidFaithless posted...

I always heard just touching it was bad enough

It can be. What's dangerous is how little of it can be fatal. You could get some on your clothing and accidently breathe it in doing something like taking off your shirt or rubbing your sleeve on your nose.

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MorbidFaithless posted...

I always heard just touching it was bad enough

Nah thats basically an urban myth.

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gunplagirl posted...

Didn't doctors say that you can't absorb it through your skin unless the fentanyl is moist? Why were the cops not wearing gloves? I need answers.

JlM posted...

Faiivae wore gloves as he tested the powder, Martinez said, and had just taken them off when he collapsed

Could be improper technique taking off his gloves. Trust me for some of us rubber gloves makes our hands swear in under a minute of wear. So sweaty hand possibly touched a spot with that shit on it taking off his other glove. Sweat moistened it boom.

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ShineboxPhil posted...

It can be. What's dangerous is how little of it can be fatal. You could get some on your clothing and accidently breathe it in doing something like taking off your shirt or rubbing your sleeve on your nose.

Skin can't really absorb enough to cause an od. I mean if you're rolling in it or going elbow deep in a big bucket of it then sure, probly, but generally speaking touching it is not going to kill you.

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For people wondering what Fentanyl is even used for medically: it's primarily used to relieve the pain of cancer patients in hospice. It's insanely powerful though >_>

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a pinky nail amount of fetanyl can kill an adult

g0ldie posted...

luckily, he's still alive.

his partner's quick thinking most likely saved his life.

My mistake. This is better news.

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CADE FOSTER posted...

a pinky nail amount of fetanyl can kill an adult

Even less.

https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/why-fentanyl-is-deadlier-than-heroin/

Meanwhile carfentanil is deadly in amounts so small you'd barely even see it was there.

Which is another reason the war on drugs is so fucming idiotic and archaic. People dying by the tens of thousands cause idiots would rather go "mah morals baaaawwww" then make sure addicts have access to a clean and safe supply

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I order fentanyl all the time. Not ideal for pain management tbh but used commonly for procedural sedation

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Turns out the video was staged by the cops fucking christ

https://www.dailydot.com/debug/san-diego-sheriffs-department-fake-fentanyl-overdose-video/

More copaganda

Lonestar2000 posted...

I call bullshit.

https://www.statnews.com/2017/08/09/fentanyl-falling-ill/

yeah I just read an article about how the validity/factuality of this is being disputed

this is the one I read: https://www.yahoo.com/news/video-deputys-drug-collapse-questioned-202556818.html

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^ for real?

that's fucked up.

sorry for the topic, you guys.

edit: at post 33

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g0ldie posted...

^ for real?

that's fucked up.

sorry for the topic, you guys.

This.

I rarely give cops the benefit of the doubt, this time I actually do, and now it looks like I probly shouldn't have.

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I mean, it also just doesn't make sense. If it were that toxic, people wouldn't be selling it. Drug dealers make money off repeat customers, not ones who buy a single dose of fentanyl and then fuckin' die. That's not to mention that dealers themselves would be dropping like flies if just touching it triggered an overdose. It's not like street dealers are maintaining strict hospital standards.

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pegusus123456 posted...

I mean, it also just doesn't make sense. If it were that toxic, people wouldn't be selling it. Drug dealers make money off repeat customers, not ones who buy a single dose of fentanyl and then fuckin' die. That's not to mention that dealers themselves would be dropping like flies if just touching it triggered an overdose. It's not like street dealers are maintaining strict hospital standards.

Its sold cut into stomped on heroin to give its potency back far more than its sold by itself.

Which is why activists have been handing out free uncut heroin in front of the Vancouver police department lately.

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Smells like copaganda to me.