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Jun 26, 2023

Two Milwaukee County deputies treated for fentanyl exposure

Each say they were affected by the opiate before Narcan treatment Each say they were affected by the opiate before Narcan treatment The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.

Each say they were affected by the opiate before Narcan treatment

Each say they were affected by the opiate before Narcan treatment

The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.

Each say they were affected by the opiate before Narcan treatment

Searching a crashed car at Fond du Lac at Silver Spring Friday, Milwaukee County Sheriff's Deputy Adriean Williams had an unexpected experience.

"I feel dizzy, my head is pounding," Williams can be heard saying on body camera video.

On Monday, he explained he believes he was overcome by exposure to fentanyl.

"There was a blue sweater on the floorboard, I lifted the sweater, and immediately my disposition changed. I felt dizzy, I was inert, my legs... I couldn't feel my legs. My balance was unsteady," he said. "I'm looking at traffic, cars zip past me, and I just couldn't move. I'm just stuck. It's terrifying."

Williams said a sergeant arrived, noticed his condition, and gave him Narcan, a nasal spray that counteracts the effects of opiates on the body.

Williams said it worked quickly.

"Within seconds," he said. "I am so fortunate, eternally grateful that my sergeant had the Narcan on him."

Recent medical literature questions whether incidental fentanyl exposure should cause such immediate and profound reactions, but Williams has no doubt.

"I was unable to move," he said Monday. "I knew where I was. I knew what was going on. It was as if I just wasn't control of my body."

Williams said he's used Narcan before on others, but never thought he'd need it himself.

"On the receiving end, this is definitely a different experience for me. My first and hopefully my last," he said.

But the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said it happened again the very next day to another deputy during a traffic stop.

"The driver had some white powdery substance that we now believe was cocaine. However we're also trained that in many cases, cocaine can be laced with fentanyl. This deputy started feeling faint, sick and called for some back up when she realized something isn't right here," Inspector Douglas Holton said.

That deputy was also treated with Narcan.

Both deputies were evaluated at local hospitals and released. Holton said they’ve made full recoveries.