A nine-month-old New Hampshire infant had to be given a “lifesaving” dose of Narcan after exposure to what police believe to be fentanyl that was dropped on the floor of the home, police said.
The baby’s mother was already driving the child to the hospital when she called 911 to report the medical emergency, which occurred in September, the Charlestown Police Department told WMUR.
Police intercepted the mother’s car before she made it to the hospital, allowing Sgt. Michael Puktsa to administer what the department called a “lifesaving” dose of Narcan, the outlet reported.
The baby then had to be flown by helicopter to Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, where the child eventually recovered before being released.
“Once they are able to administer [Narcan], they were able to successfully block the opioid and the child was able to begin breathing normally,” Chris Stawasz with the American Medical Response told the outlet. “Their tolerance to the amount of fentanyl that it would take to put them into respiratory arrest is much lower than what yours or mine would be. A very, very small amount could be lethal to them.”
Upon investigating, police said that the child was exposed to fentanyl at the Meadowview Apartments in Charlestown after a man who was visiting the home to see his son — who was not the overdose victim — dropped a baggie of powdered drugs on the floor.
The man, a 30-year-old from Proctorsville, Vermont, has not been arrested or charged; officials said that the case is being forwarded to the Sullivan County Attorney’s Office for presentation to a grand jury.
The Division for Children Youth and Families (DCYF) is also involved in the case, police added.
“The public was pretty upset about the incident. Unfortunately, it’s something that happens just too often in this state, in this country nowadays with the influx of fentanyl. Common sense would say keep drugs away from kids,” Lt. Jonathan Graham said.