PUEBLO COUNTY — A Pueblo County Sheriff's deputy was briefly hospitalized after being exposed to fentanyl while arresting a man.
The incident happened Tuesday around 4 a.m. at the Loaf N Jug on Santa Fe Drive just west of Blende.
Deputies were responding there for an unwanted man, later identified as 31-year-old Anthony Gendoes. They also learned he had an active warrant.
According to the sheriff's office, deputies, wearing protective gloves, did a routine pat search of Gendoes and found suspected fentanyl pills and paraphernalia. Gendoes also told deputies he had smoked fentanyl.
The sheriff's office says deputies took Gendoes into custody and processed the drugs. One of the deputies began to feel ill and passed out. Another deputy then issued Narcan on the deputy until she regained consciousnesses.
The sheriff's office said the deputy was transported by ambulance to a local hospital where she was treated and released for the exposure. She is recovering at home.
At this time, the sheriff's office is not releasing the names of the deputies involved.
Gendoes was arrested on the warrant and a new charge of possession of a controlled substance. He is currently in the Pueblo County Jail.
The sheriff's office shared the video below that shows the incident. Some viewers may find the video disturbing, viewer discretion is advised.
News5 spoke with The El Paso County Coroner, Dr. Leon Kelly, to get more information about fentanyl exposure.
“So with fentanyl, (it) has to get into your bloodstream and the ways that it does that is through using needles to inject it in there to swallow the pills and then it's absorbed kind of through your stomach like you do all medication or you bring the pill in, smoking it or inhaling it directly," said Dr. Kelly.
“You need direct exposure of the drug into the vascular system and so it has to be absorbing that drug,” said Dr. Kelly. "In the Pueblo County case, the sheriff's office said the deputies were wearing protective gloves."
Dr. Kelly said there is no danger in touching fentanyl, but you should use caution.
“What we don't want to do though, is turn fentanyl into the boogeyman that just by being in a room with it, or by being around somebody else who's used it, we refuse to render aid and come to help and support that person because we have an irrational fear... of what the drug can do or what the drug is capable of,” said Dr. Kelly.
He mentioned everyone has a different tolerance to opioids.
“Someone who has a long term chronic opioid or fentanyl abuser can have in their bloodstream levels that would kill essentially everybody else,” said Dr. Kelly.
He said it is also not dangerous to administer Narcan to someone even if that individual does not have drugs in their system.
“The fact that you give Narcan to someone and then they recovered isn't proof that that's what they had,” said Dr. Kelly.
According to Dr. Kelly, there could be other factors to why someone passes out. He said he's not aware of any cases in his career of first responders becoming unconscious after being exposed to fentanyl. Dr. Kelly watched the video of the Pueblo incident.
“If someone's using it and it's been vaporized, it's in the air when you're actively smoking. That's the route that you would create circumstances where you can breathe in and cops have an incredibly dangerous job. They put themselves in really scary situations all day every day. So hopefully she's okay and is doing alright,” said Dr. Kelly.
The sheriff's office says the incident demonstrate the dangers that deputies face while responding to calls where drugs are involved.
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