First Responders Taking Precautions Over Substance Recently Found In Heroin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police are taking extra precautions against an especially deadly substance being used to cut heroin.
A DEA video warns first responders of the dangers of carfentanyl:
"A bunch of it poofed up into the air right into our face, and we ended up inhaling it."
"I felt like my body was shutting down."
Carfentanyl is used to tranquilize elephants, but it's also emerging as a way to cut heroin -- and authorities say it's 100 times more potent than its relative, fentanyl.
Breathing or touching minute amounts can be deadly.
Philadelphia Police captain Sekou Kinebrew says his officers are advised not only to wear gloves and masks during field tests, but: "What we'd like officers to do is have two officers, an additional officer present while officer number one is testing the drugs, just in case officer number one who's handling the drugs goes into some sort of medical distress."
In the meantime, Philadelphia police are awaiting toxicology tests on what would reportedly be Philadelphia's second carfentanyl-related death.
Kinebrew advises members of the public that if they report a heroin overdose to police, that they give 911 a detailed description of the scene so that police know what to expect when they arrive.