Butler County Investigator Brandon Lowe knows first hand that Narcan is a life-saving drug.
While packaging evidence seized during a search of a Highway 142 home on Sept. 5, Lowe accidentally was exposed to a substance containing Fentanyl.
"We found a white powder substance that was seized; at the time, we thought it was methamphetamine," Lowe explained. "We brought it back to the sheriff's office."
Deputies, he said, had seized two small corner Baggies containing the white powder and a glass plate that "had some powder on it."
Lowe said he was at his desk "packaging it into evidence. I had gloves on.
"What I did, my arm itched, I actually scratched it with my pinky finger."
By that point, Lowe said, he was basically done.
"What I did was take my gloves off, and I went into the sheriff's office and was talking to them," Lowe said.
While in Sheriff Mark Dobbs' office, Lowe said, he began to feel light headed and dizzy, "like I was going to pass out."
Lowe said he told the sheriff to call an ambulance.
"What's so scary ... no one had a clue at first what had happened," Lowe said.
Once emergency-medical-services personnel arrived, Lowe was put into the ambulance and given Narcan, a nasal spray that is an antidote for opioid overdoes.
Within five to 10 minutes, Lowe said, he began feeling better.
Lowe was taken to the hospital, where an EKG and blood work was done.
" ... they told me it was Fentanyl," which apparently had been cut with the methamphetamine, said Lowe, who estimated 15 to 20 minutes passed between his exposure and his getting the Narcan.
Fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid used to treat pain, is used as a cutting agent for other illegal narcotics, such as heroin.
What happened to Lowe, Dobbs said, was pretty alarming.
"The irony of it is we were sitting there talking about the dangers of it," Dobbs said.
When the effects of the Fentanyl hit Lowe, he said, he thought he was going to pass out, but he stayed conscious.
"I was light headed, had shortness of breath ... It caused me to freak out a little bit to be honest," Lowe said.
Dobbs described the potential of an opioid exposure as an "unprecedented problem and a health hazard to law enforcement, as well as EMS workers."
By comparison, Dobbs said, there is a "much larger concern, in my mind, for Fentanyl exposure than the concerns there were for meth labs back in the day."
The potential of officers being accidentally exposed to an opioid, such as Fentanyl, as well as the increasing number of opioid and heroin overdoses, has led of law enforcement carrying doses of Narcan.
Both the sheriff's department and Poplar Bluff Police Department have had Narcan in their patrol cars for nearly a year. Additional doses reportedly are kept in the police booking area and county jail and evidence area.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol also now carries the drug in all its patrol cars in Southeast Missouri.
"With the size of Poplar Bluff and the ready availability of ambulance services, we don't expect to have to use the Narcan before EMS arrives, but it's important to have it available in the event an officer is accidentally exposed or we arrive on the scene of an overdose before EMS," explained Poplar Bluff Police Capt. David Sutton.
That was the case on the night of Feb. 5 when officers responded to a motor-vehicle crash on Hemlock involving an unresponsive driver.
According to police Patrolman James Henry's report, Brittany R. Ramirez was found unresponsive inside her locked car in a ditch by her mother and sister.
The women had to use a brick to break out a window to get to the 28-year-old, said Henry, who was told Ramirez allegedly uses heroin.
When Henry checked Ramirez for a pulse, he said, he detected a "weak pulse, and she was taking periodic shallow breaths."
Henry said he notified Cpl. Steve Nance, who was en route, he needed Narcan for a possible overdose.
While monitoring Ramirez, Henry said, he began CPR after he could no longer detect a pulse. Firefighters also arrived and assisted with CPR.
"Upon the arrival of Cpl. Nance, I administered the nasal spray Narcan to Brittany, and CPR was continued," Henry said. "After a short time, Brittany began to breath on her own and became alert."
Ramirez, who was arrested for driving while under the influence of drugs, subsequently was taken by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment.
Henry said Ramirez reported she had "snorted two Xanax" on her way home that night and admitted to using heroin in the past, but said she does not "actively use heroin."
When Henry told Ramirez Xanax was in the "wrong family of drugs" to respond to Narcan, "she advised the pills were already crushed up when she got them, and they must have been mixed with something else."
According to officers, the use of cutting agents, such as Fentanyl, can increase a user's risk of an overdose.
Synthetics, such as Fentanyl, are cheap to make, so they are made in other countries, like China, and then smuggled into the United States, said David Ross, paramedic/manager with Butler County EMS.
"The reasons those are especially dangerous is because they are very potent," Ross explained. "Since they're synthetic, they can make them much stronger than morphine is. A little goes a long way ...."
Most of the time, Ross said, the overdose is accidental, but the "ingestion is intentional ... they accidentally take too much."
With an opioid, Ross said, the person will be in a euphoric state, but it causes "respiratory depression, so just a little bit over the line ... their body, (while) the heart rate stays good ... they stop breathing or start breathing very slowly."
As a result, he said, there is not enough "oxygen exchanged," and eventually, the person will go into cardiac arrest if he/she is not treated medically.
Narcan, according to Ross, has been around for a long time, but it has "become more necessary."
"In the past, it was one of those things we had, but rarely used, but its very commonly used now," said Ross, who estimated EMS crews administer the drug once to twice weekly.
"We actually hit our peak probably in '14, '15 ... we would go through probably three doses a week," Ross aid.
Narcan or its generic form, Naloxne, completely reverses the effects of opioids on the body, Ross said.
It takes a person from "having respiratory depression and being comatose" to being alert within about 60 seconds and wipes out the effects of the opioid on his/her system, Ross explained.
Even if the Narcan is administered and revives a person, Ross said, it is advisable for the person to seek medical treatment.
"Some patients will actually require multiple doses depending on how much of (the opioid) they ingested," Ross said. "Sometimes, the Narcan wears off, and they will slip back into" a comatose state.