FAIRFAX, Va. — The Fairfax County police said an officer had to go to the hospital for treatment after coming into contact with an opioid substance while responding to an overdose call.
“One of our police officers responded to a call for service for a man passed out in a vehicle in a parking lot,” Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler told WTOP, “and unfortunately, that man overdosed on heroin.”
In many cases, including this one, “the heroin is so powerful, even contact with it by a law enforcement officer sends that officer to the hospital,” he says.
Police said officers were called to parking lot in the 8100 block of Watson Street in Tysons just after noon Oct. 17.
Roessler said incidents such as this are becoming far too common: “This happened in Fairfax County. It’s happened in other cities and counties throughout the United States.”
When it comes to the opioid crisis, “We as public safety officers — or fire and rescue — we are having to deal with this issue as the tip of the spear,” he says.
