Drug exposure sends 2 Ottawa police officers to hospital

Red and blue lights atop an Ottawa police vehicle are seen in this undated file photo.

The Ottawa Police Service says two officers were taken to hospital after being exposed to fentanyl and meth during separate operations this month.

The first incident happened in the early hours of Feb. 5 when police seized more than 70 grams of fentanyl and 146 grams of unknown white powder on Esprit Drive. As an officer was arresting a 36-year-old man, he was exposed to fentanyl. The officer was immediately rushed to hospital, police note. He has since been released and is expected to fully recover.

Police charged the suspect in this incident with possession of a schedule one substance for the purpose of trafficking.

The second incident happened Feb. 8, when an officer from the police service’s East Division seized crystal meth from a man he had arrested. This officer started feeling nauseous and lightheaded inside the cruiser when he was transporting the suspect.

That was when the officer “pulled over and the sergeant following his police cruiser called for paramedics” who transported him to hospital. He has since been released and is currently doing well, according to the city’s police service.

Police say these two incidents serve as examples about the risks associated with fentanyl and meth.

“It also clearly demonstrates how the risk associated to the drug has devastated communities across Canada, leaving thousands of people mourning the loss of their loved ones to drug overdoses,” police said in a news release Wednesday.

Information about substance abuse and addiction is available online.