A bill recently introduced in the state Legislature would require police and first responders to don protective equipment before going anywhere near an overdose scene.
STOUGHTON - Just a puff from the top of an evidence bag or a hand in the wrong place can be enough to put a police officer’s life at risk.
Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that’s become the driving factor behind the mounting deaths in the region’s opioid addiction crisis, has become such a risk to the first responders who race to try and save an overdose victim’s life or work to take down traffickers distributing the lethal drugs that a bill recently introduced in the state Legislature would require them to don protective equipment before going anywhere near a scene.
The bill was introduced by Rep. RoseLee Vincent of Revere.
In June, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration issued an alert to law enforcement agencies around the country about the dangers of handling fentanyl during anti-drug operations.