Three nurses in Ohio had to be treated after they were exposed to Fentanyl. They were treating an overdose patient, and they got sick after that.

These three nurses work at the Affinity Medical Centre. They were assisting opioid addicts and cleaning the rooms when they got exposed to this drug. They woke up in hospital beds after an overdose.

Image credit: Joe Amon / Getty Images / The Huffington Post
Image credit: Joe Amon / Getty Images / The Huffington Post

“They were cleaning up the room and started to feel sick. And then that left them waking up in a hospital bed,” said Detective Shaun Dadisman, suggesting that the nurses had gone into overdose themselves.

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin

Fentanyl is one of the most potent drugs, and it can be fatal. It Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is medically used as a pain killer and is about 50 times stronger than regular heroin. A fentanyl addiction is highly fatal since it only takes 0.002g of fentanyl to die. People who experience opioid overdose have a reaction that makes the body forget it has to breathe. Therefore, the respiratory system just stops functioning.

Because of this, the three nurses from Ohio had to be treated with Narcan, a brand name for naloxone. This chemical effectively reverses overdoses within minutes as it blocks the brain’s opioid receptors.

“It shuts down your system so you get to the point where you’re not breathing on your own. And you need that boost and that Narcan is what takes that away so it helps you to recover quickly,” Dadisman said.

The nurses were exposed to fentanyl on August 8, when they were assisting overdose patients.

Fentanyl overdoses and trafficking are a concerning issue in the United States

Because of its powerful effects, fentanyl is being more and more used to fortify street heroin in the country which is increasing the number of deaths produced by an opioid overdose. On August 10, 18 SWAT officers came into contact with Fentanyl after a drug raid at a home in Pittsburgh. They went immediately to the hospital. All of them are in a stable condition. According to medical experts, it is more likely to have a secondary fentanyl overdoses, which means that people are more likely to ingest the substance accidentally. There is also an increasing number of medics and officials that have been affected by this drug when dealing with fentanyl users.

However, the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety removed a part of the statement they posted on its Fentanyl page, where they said that skin absorption of fentanyl could be deadly. It is more likely that this happens through inhalation.

“I don’t doubt that a police officer who’s felt unwell after casual skin contact might believe he or she was poisoned,” expressed David Juurlink, a doctor, and toxicologist at the University of Toronto. “But I think it’s much more likely to represent the ‘nocebo effect’ – the idea there is that people will develop symptoms if they think they’ve been exposed to something,” he added.

Source: Death Rattle Sport