Three people died and 18 first responders were sickened after exposure to fentanyl at a rural New Mexico home this week, New Mexico State Police said.
Police initially found four people unconscious at the home in Mountainair, 90 miles (145 km) east of Albuquerque. Two were declared dead at the scene and the third died in hospital.
During the response, officials said, first responders were exposed to the substance and began experiencing symptoms including nausea and dizziness. Eighteen were hospitalized and then discharged.
Preliminary findings suggest that multiple powdered opioids contributed to the deaths of three residents, including fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl (also known as P4 fentanyl), and methamphetamine.
Authorities identified the victims as 51-year-old Mika Raskon and 49-year-old Georgia Raskon. The identity of the third person has not been released by the medical examiner.
All Mountainair EMS personnel were later dispatched to the home, only a fourth person was found inside the home and one first responder remained hospitalized.
Steve McLaughlin, chief medical officer at the University of New Mexico Hospital, said fentanyl appears to be primarily responsible.
“Fentanyl is particularly dangerous because it only takes a small amount to cause an overdose. The smallest dose of fentanyl can cause severe symptoms in any exposed person,” McLaughlin told the Albuquerque Journal.
A spokesperson for the New Mexico State Police said that preliminary evidence did not indicate that “actual manufacturing” of drugs was taking place in the home. Officials said no one has been charged in the case.
The Mountainair Police Department said it received a report that a man had not shown up to work that morning. Another employee visited the home and found four people who were consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.
Emergency workers entered the home with protective gear, but were advised to exercise caution, believing the cause may have been a gas leak.
“This tragedy also highlights the dangers associated with illegal narcotics, particularly fentanyl, and its devastating impact on communities across our state,” New Mexico State Police Chief Matt Broome said during a press conference.
“We, as a community, must do anything and everything we can to combat this pandemic. We owe it to our fellow New Mexicans.”
The fear of accidental exposure to synthetic narcotics has led police departments to spend heavily from opioid disposal funds on special equipment to help protect first responders from fentanyl exposure risks.
But studies show there is almost no evidence that law enforcement personnel are at risk from overdose due to accidentally touching or smelling the drug.
According to NPR, Florida has passed a law making it a second-degree crime to cause an overdose or physical injury to a first responder through second-hand fentanyl exposure, and similar legislation has been considered by Tennessee and West Virginia.
New Mexico is considered a major drug transshipment state for spreading fentanyl to major markets across the US.
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