Falmouth police are not seeking charges against a combative patient who brought fentanyl into the Falmouth Hospital emergency room on Thursday last week. Some hospital staff and first responders were treated for exposure to the potentially deadly drug following a tussle with the man, when the substance was released.
Falmouth Police Lieutenant Douglas DeCosta said police are not pressing charges against the man because it was determined he had overdosed. According to state law, a person who seeks medical assistance for a drug-related overdose cannot be charged for possession of the drug.
The emergency room was closed for five hours while a state hazmat team responded and decontaminated the area.
Meanwhile, incoming ambulances were diverted to nearby hospitals.
Bourne medics had brought the man to the hospital earlier in the day. After he was discharged, Falmouth police were called and responded to a report of a man outside the hospital who appeared to be intoxicated on drugs. Fire Department Chief Timothy R. Smith said fire and rescue personnel went to the hospital campus to assist Falmouth police at around 2 PM.
He was brought back into the hospital emergency room and he then became combative, the fire chief said.
"While trying to control the situation, several public safety personnel and hospital staff were exposed to a substance that was on the patient," he said. "As a result, personnel quickly developed symptoms of lightheadedness and other similar effects."
At least three people, including a fire department employee and hospital staff members, required administration of naloxone, which rapidly reverses the effect of the opioid, Chief Smith said.
All who were exposed were evaluated and released and reported no further symptoms after the initial exposure.
Four other people, including Falmouth Police Department members, were involved in the incident, but they did not experience any reaction to the drug exposure and did not receive the medication for overdoses.
"It was eventually determined that the substance contained fentanyl, a very potent opioid drug, as well as other detected chemicals," Chief Smith said in a statement.
After an extensive decontamination process, the areas of exposure were deemed safe, and the emergency room services returned to normal at about 7 PM, Chief Smith said.
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