Number of Toledo overdose calls may indicate bad batch

Dispatchers paged emergency crews to a Toledo area home Wednesday afternoon for a report of a person who fell.

But instead of finding a slip-and-fall case, crews found someone suffering from a suspected drug overdose. Similar reports kept coming for first responders throughout the day, sending ambulances and police units across the Toledo area as police scanners buzzed with chatter about overdose after overdose.

And while the total number of overdoses per day generally ebbs and flows, a higher number of cases Wednesday may suggest “there’s potentially a bad batch,” of drugs going around the city, said Sgt. Steve Rogers of the Lucas County Sheriff ’s Office Drug Abuse Response Team.

Between first and second shifts Wednesday, DART responded to 10 overdose calls, with eight of those calls happening between 2 and 10 p.m., Sergeant Rogers said. On a typical day the DART unit may respond to three to four overdoses.

Additionally, Toledo Fire & Rescue Department crews responded to 14 incidents Wednesday, which were “coded” as an overdose. That total doesn’t include other overdose calls that are categorized in different manners based on a caller’s report — they might instead be “coded” as a call for an ill or unconscious person, for example.

Toledo fire Pvt. Sterling Rahe, a department spokesman, said that, on average, emergency crews respond to six to eight overdose calls a day.

One of Wednesday’s calls originally reported two individuals overdosing at a home in the 6100 block of Rolland Drive. While responding, Toledo police Officer Lisa Fauver was exposed to a drug that court documents identified as fentanyl.

Toledo police Chief George Kral on Thursday declined to positively identify the substance as such before more testing can be done.

But he said police believe Officer Fauver placed an infected item on her cruiser’s dashboard and the air conditioning blew particles toward her.

“This was an airborne particle that made an officer go unconscious in seconds. This is deadly, deadly stuff,” Chief Kral said.

Fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent than heroin. Carfentanil, which is used as a large animal tranquilizer, is 100 times stronger than fentanyl, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The officer called for help over the radio and administered herself naloxone, the opioid-reversal medication, and was given additional doses by her partner and emergency crews, Chief Kral said.

While earlier numbers were not immediately available, Chief Kral said officers were called to at least nine overdose calls after clearing the Rolland Drive incident.

Officers were originally called to Rolland Drive at about 11:30 a.m., and they left the scene between 9 and 10 p.m.

“Without knowing, it sounds to me like there may be a bad batch of dope out there, or an incredibly strong batch out there that people aren’t ready for,” Chief Kral said.