Credit: Cardinal Health
Three nurses at Affinity Medical Center in Massillon (near Canton) were revived with Narcan doses earlier this week after treating an overdose victim and cleaning the patient’s room. The nurses came into contact with an unknown substance, though police suspect that it may have been something like fentanyl or a related chemical analogue.

The New Philadephia Times Reporter shared the story this week, noting that the nurses are fine now. Detective Shaun Dadisman told a local news station that, “They were cleaning up the room and started to feel sick. And then that left them waking up in a hospital bed.”

It’s a story that echoes an East Liverpool overdose back in May, when a police officer absorbed a small amount of fentanyl through his skin. Even minor contact — a small amount grazing a shirtsleeve, etc. — requires police officers and health professionals to go through the testing and treatment process immediately.

This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2017.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.