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Authorities say accidental fentanyl exposure quickly hit MP David Faiivae. It was an overdose, they said, and he was dying.
A body-worn camera captured the moment Faiivae collapsed onto his back in a San Marcos parking lot last month, seconds after he finished testing a white powder he suspected to be cocaine or fentanyl , according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
The deputy looked at the sky. He will later say in a video posted by officials that his lungs became blocked as he struggled to breathe. The sheriff’s department said that if not for a quick-witted partner, he would be dead.
Faiivae’s July 3 experiment was the subject of a 4-minute video posted by the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday.
The incident is the latest public warning from authorities on the dangers of fentanyl, a drug blamed for 461 fatal overdoses in San Diego County in 2020, with officials saying the number could reach 700 by 2021. The drug is growing. more smuggled into county inmates. prisons too.
Deputy Sheriff Kelly Martinez said the video sparked internal discussions about the training, as well as the need to go public to demonstrate the dangers of fentanyl, a lethal synthetic drug 50 times more potent than heroin.
“We still see it increasing all the time,” Martinez said of fentanyl use.
As body-worn cameras roll, Faiivae’s training officer tells Faiivae that the substance he found tested positive for fentanyl. He warns his intern “it’s not a joke, it’s super dangerous”.
Faiivae then takes a step back and tips over.
Cpl. Scott Crane watches the deputy then rushes to his patrol car to search for naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, a nasal spray used to reverse the effects of opioids. “I ran over to him and grabbed him, and he was OD,” Crane later recalls.
Crane sprays the medicine in one of Faiivae’s nostrils, then in the other, and moves to loosen Faiivae’s bulletproof vest under his uniform shirt.
“Just breathe, mate, breathe,” Crane told Faiivae, according to the video. When Crane asks his intern if he’s okay, Faiivae answers in a weak voice: “I’m sorry.”
“You’re fine. Don’t be sorry…. I got you, okay?” Said Crane. “I’m not going to let you die. I’m not going to let you die.
Authorities say The Faiivae overdose occurred around 4 p.m. in a parking lot near North Twin Oaks Valley Road, during her first radio call of her day. The Labor Assistant patrols the San Marcos Sheriff’s Station. It was his last day of watching veteran Crane, officials said.
They do not know if the fentanyl got into the member’s skin or if he inhaled it. The department released an edited copy of the body camera video, but no medical records detailing Faiivae’s exposure.
There has been a lot of debate about the types of fentanyl exposure needed to cause serious health hazards. Some experts are very skeptical that just touching the drug can cause an overdose..
Doctors have said that occasional skin contact with the drug is unlikely to cause an overdose in most cases.
Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged first responders to use extreme caution in handling the drug, offering a long list of safety procedures.
Martinez, the deputy sheriff, credits Crane with Narcan being nearby as deputies tested the white powder. “He saved his partner’s life that day,” she said.
She also thanked the two MPs for agreeing to share their story, to point out to the public the dangers of fentanyl.
“We have secondary exhibitions. We exhibited toddlers. It’s so dangerous, ”she said.
In the video, Sheriff Bill Gore calls fentanyl one of the biggest threats facing the region and the country. Overdoses have skyrocketed in recent years, Gore said, and MPs are finding the drugs in the community – and in county jails.
“Every week, sheriff’s deputies intercept fentanyl entering our” facilities, he said. “When fentanyl overdose inmates are smuggled into our prisons, MPs and nurses save dozens of lives every month” by administering naloxone.
Gore urged viewers of the video to share it with family and friends, saying it could save lives.
Law enforcement officials have long been concerned about officers’ exposure to fentanyl, with some agencies purchasing tools that allow officers to test for suspected narcotics without opening packages. Departments distribute gloves and protective eyewear to officers to reduce the risk of exposure.
Faiivae was wearing gloves while he was testing the drug, Martinez said, and had just taken them off when he collapsed.
“I remember not feeling good and then I fell backwards,” Faiivae says on the video. “I don’t remember anything after that.”
He remembers panting, but says it felt like his lungs were blocked.
Crane remembers wanting the Assistant to focus on his breathing and to know he wasn’t alone.
After the paramedics arrived, Faiivae was loaded into an ambulance and his eyes rolled back.
“He’s an invisible killer,” Crane said. “He would have died in that parking lot if he had been alone.
Kucher and Figueroa write for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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