BUTTE — It was a dangerous weekend in Butte after six people nearly died of fentanyl overdoses. Now first responders in the community are asking the public to be aware that the drug is in the community and to call 911 immediately when an overdose is suspected.
"It’s a scary thing. We just need to make sure to stay trained and know what’s going on and educate a little bit more on what’s going on," says Lee Sullivan, a Butte-Silver Bow Firefighter and EMT with nearly a decade of experience.
Sullivan is one of several first responders to save lives this weekend after responding to the overdoses. Law enforcement is warning the public that a new and strong supply of fentanyl powder has been introduced to the community and is causing a spike in overdoses. And that’s why Sullivan is urging the public to act quickly when someone is unresponsive.
He says people overdosing on fentanyl don't have very much time when it comes to saving their lives.
"You have to act quickly. It all varies with how much was involved with that drug," says Sullivan.
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According to Sullivan, life-saving response time can vary from minutes to a half hour depending on what a person was exposed to. That’s why he urges people to use Narcan and call 911 immediately. He says the average response time for butte firefighters is around 6 minutes within the city limits.
"It’s just a hard problem to deal with. It takes everybody. It takes a full force to get this taken care of or at least mitigated but it’s just hard to deal with as a small community like this. Like we are," says Sullivan.
Butte Police and the Southwest Montana Drug Task Force are investigating the spike in overdoses. Butte police are asking anyone who may have information about the source of the fentanyl powder believed to be responsible for the overdoses to call 406-497-1120.
