. So, precautions must be taken for their safety and the safety of the victim. Without the safety of a Police officer in mind, the victim may not get the correct treatment and could die as a result. Proper personal protective equipment (PPE) shall be used for an Officer to affect a lifesaving response. “...law enforcement personnel, or any first responders, who encounter fentanyl or fentanyl‐related substances should NOT take samples or otherwise disturb any powdered substances without employing proper PPE...”(DEA Pg 11). The proper PPE should be nitrile gloves, a N-95 dust mask, eye protection, and a Naloxone injector on the Officer. The Officer shall not field test the suspected substance, but place it in a sealable plastic evidence bag while wearing all appropriate PPE. This evidence bag will be clearly marked “Suspected Fentanyl” (DEA Pg 15), for officer safety. A policy of Police Officers wearing the proper PPE will drastically decrease the possibility of an …show more content…
Implementing these policies come with little or no cost associated with them. The federal government provides free online opioid overdose training for law enforcement and medical personnel. There are several grants available from the manufactures of Naloxone and Narcan. Most Police Departments already provide gloves and masks to their Officers and the training needed is also free through the Drug Enforcement Administration. Also available at low cost is implementing an ANGEL type program. This program could tackle both the education of the community as well as helping those addicted to opioids. The risk of not implementing any of these policy or strategies would far outweigh their cost. My recommendation for any Law Enforcement organization, is to implement all of these polices or strategies. But, implementing just one will directly affect the opioid overdose