A Vermont State Trooper had to be revived by multiple doses of Narcan after he apprehended a man in a routine traffic stop.
Acting Sgt. Brett Flansburg stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation in Leicester late Friday night and saw the driver, Taylor Woodward, 25, swallow a baggie that was later identified as a baggie of cocaine, police said.
Taylor Woodward faces a misdemeanor charge for heroin possession.
In a search of the vehicle, Flansburg collected a small quantity of heroin in a baggie. Woodward was then taken into custody by other troopers on the scene for processing on suspicion of possessing heroin, police said.
Flansburg began to feel ill as he drove to the New Haven Barracks. When he arrived, he collapsed in the parking lot and was found unresponsive, police said.
He was unresponsive when he was found by fellow troopers who immediately administered Narcan. In all, Flansburg received three doses of the opiate antidote in a row. He was rushed to UVM Medical Center in Burlington where he was treated and released, police said.
Woodward was brought separately to UVMMC and did not need medical care.
He will be arraigned May 6 in Vermont Superior Court, Criminal Division, in Middlebury. He faces a misdemeanor charge of heroin possession.
The drug Flansburg was exposed to is being tested and the incident is under investigation.
Col. Matthew T. Birmingham, director of the Vermont State Police, said in a press release that “being a state trooper is a dangerous and demanding job for all the reasons you’d expect: apprehending criminals, encountering volatile individuals, rushing toward emergencies rather than away.
“Now there is a new threat that we’re seeing up close: the risk of exposure to powerful drugs that can kill in even tiny amounts,” Birmingham said. “This is so troubling and disconcerting, and it places members of law enforcement at unnecessary risk of possibly losing their lives.”
“Were it not for the immediate availability of Narcan and the quick actions of his fellow troopers and medical personnel, we might be speaking today about the death of a trooper in the line of duty,” the colonel said. “I’m angry at how close we came, and relieved that the situation was no worse than it was.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont State Trooper recovers from drug overdose after traffic stop.