A full coverup suit designed for police officers responding to drug overdoses (Photo: WSET)
BEDFORD, Va. (WSET) -- Police departments in Central Virginia are taking precautions due to the growing opioid overdose numbers.
Authorities say a sheriff's deputy in Virginia suffered an accidental overdose after arresting two people on drug charges in Stafford County Wednesday morning.
The Bedford Police Department said it's arming their officers with suits that cover them head to toe, designed to block any drugs from coming in contact with an officer.
Officers also have gloves and a face shield so they don't breathe in any drug or get it in their eyes.
"The officers are just trained to where they're going to try and assist that person first and they tend to worry about themselves second," said Lt. Robert Kimbrel with the Bedford Police Department.
Lt. Kimbrel said the new danger police face is drugs laced with fentanyl and carfentanyl, which both can be deadly.
They can get into an officer's system through the air, by touching it, and even through their eyes.
"We're teaching them at the very least to glove up, but if possible, go ahead back out of the scene, put on the exposure kit and go ahead back to the scene," Lt. Kimbrel said.
Besides the suit, gloves, and mask, officers also have biohazard bags and sanitizer in the kit.
Ideally, the suit is to be worn any time they respond to a scene with opiods, but sometimes this is just not reality.
"You don't have the luxury of time on your side," Lt. Kimbrel said. "If we find the person is unresponsive the very first thing is for the safety of that person."
The other concern is for K-9 units, Lt. Kimbrel said they have to protect the dogs because they use their nose to sniff out drugs and this can be deadly for them, so K-9 officers carry Naloxone just in case.
The Lynchburg Police Department also said its officers use stronger gloves and face masks, and if an officer suspects a fentanyl-like substance they will forego field tests and send it to a lab for identifying.
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