Deputies gear up fight to prevent opioid exposure

As deadly drug invades area, sheriff equips crew with protective gloves, respirators, spray

The Harris County Sheriff ’s Office is equipping deputies with protective gloves, respirators and anti-overdose nasal sprays to protect officers from accidental exposure to dangerous opioids that have emerged in the area.

The substances — fentanyl and carfentanil — have ravaged other parts of the country and started to become more common in Harris County in recent months.

Law enforcement agencies around the nation have become much more cautious about handling the substances after reports that officers were sickened by accidental exposure to even small amounts of the drugs.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said his department was committed to doing “everything within our power” to protect deputies.

“When Fentanyl and Carfentanil began showing up in Harris County, we knew we had to quickly distribute the antidote and protective gear to our deputies, in case they encounter these drugs in the field,” he said, in a news release. “Deputies will also be able to administer the antidote to Harris County residents they encounter, who may have been exposed.”

The sheriff ’s office purchased 264 doses of Narcan, a nasal spray used to treat opioid overdoses. Deputies are also receiving heavyduty protective gloves to prevent the synthetic opioids from contacting the skin, and respirator masks, according to the release.

David Cuevas, president of the Harris County Deputies Organization, said he wasn’t aware of any deputies becoming ill from exposure to opioids but nonetheless cheered the sheriff ’s office’s decision to equip officers.

“We deal with drugs and other substances all the time,” Cuevas said. “It [reminds us] that we’re susceptible to being exposed. By providing Narcan — it brings that heightened level of attention that there are products out there that

can kill you.”

The drugs have been implicated in at least 26 deaths since the start of 2016, said Tricia Bentley, spokeswoman for the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. That number may not include other deaths for which toxicology testing has not yet been completed, she said.

In Houston, lab technicians at the Houston Forensic Science Center saw just one fentanyl case in 2015. In 2016, that grew to 13 cases. So far this year, nine have been found, including one carfentanil case.

Earlier this month, the Houston Police Department and officials from other local law enforcement agencies said they would stop performing roadside tests of substances believed to be illicit drugs.

Pasadena police recently seized 8 kilograms of fentanyl, leading that department to join in the decision to suspend roadside drug testing. A few weeks ago, Houston police seized an additional 3 kilograms of the drugs.

Each dose requires just 2 milligrams of the substance, meaning the recent drug seizures would translate into more than 5.5 million doses of the drug, said Peter Stout, president of the Houston Forensic Science Center, which performs drug testing for the police department and other local agencies.

Houston police received 196 doses of Narcan in February, said Kese Smith, an HPD spokesman. Those were given to officers in the narcotics division.

“The department is looking for funding in the future for department-wide deployment of Narcan, but there’s no current plan in place for that to occur,” he said.