ORLANDO, Fla. – In front of the Orange County Opioid Advisory Committee, Sergeant Stephen Marra with the Orlando Police Department explained how six officers ended up at the hospital on Wednesday.
Marra explained it started with one officer who was testing a substance at their substation, which ended up being fentanyl.
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“This officer got exposed to what was later determined to be fentanyl and started feeling ill and Narcan (used for treatment of opioid overdose) was used on this officer. So, the officer who gave the other officer Narcan, started you know, to call for more help and more Narcan,” he said.
Marra said it did not take long before he started feeling sick from the exposure while he tried to help the other officers.
He also used Narcan that he usually keeps on his desk but that wasn’t enough, so he was rushed to the hospital.
“Within a minute I was standing there fine and less than a minute I was down and out of consciousness,” Marra said.
The committee on Friday stressed how fentanyl is one of the most dangerous drugs on the streets.
Marra even brought up the arrest of accused drug dealer, Jose Alberto Gonzalez Delgado, after three young men overdosed inside an Orlando apartment this past November.
“Fentanyl is a major problem not just in our community. It’s a problem nationwide,” Marra said.
Marra said the group of officers are doing OK.
The Orange County Opioid Advisory Committee is expected to meet again at the end of April.