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Video shows Calif. deputy collapse after fentanyl exposure

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office says it’s sharing the bodycam video to emphasize the drug’s dangers

fentanyl overdose deputy

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department

By Suzie Ziegler

SAN DIEGO — Bodycam video released Thursday shows a San Diego County deputy’s reaction after he was exposed to fentanyl last month. The sheriff’s department says it is sharing the video to raise awareness around the dangerous drug.

According to the sheriff’s department, the deputy was exposed to fentanyl while processing drugs at the scene of an arrest.

“If it wasn’t for the quick-thinking of his Field Training Officer, Corporal Scott Crane, in administering naloxone, Deputy [David Faiivae] would not be alive today,” the agency said.

Crane said he had told his trainee to take a step back from the fentanyl moments before Faiivae collapsed.

“That stuff’s no joke, dude. It’s super dangerous,” Crane is heard saying.

In the bodycam video, Faiivae is seen searching the trunk of a car when he suddenly falls backwards.

Crane immediately began administering Narcan.

“He would have died in that parking lot if he was alone,” Crane said.

According to the sheriff’s department, San Diego County deputies were the first in the western United States to regularly carry Narcan.

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