Officials are sounding alarms after a baby died and two others apparently also overdosed in the past week in separate instances in which fentanyl was left unsecured inside residences, authorities said.
Last Saturday, firefighters were called to a residence after an 11-month-old was found unresponsive by the parents, a news release from the Everett fire and police departments said. The baby was given the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone before firefighters arrived and provided further medical care, authorities said. The infant was then taken to a hospital and has since been released.
Investigators don't believe the cases are connected, police said. They didn't release further information, including whether anyone has been arrested, because they said the cases remain under investigation. Fentanyl is an infamously powerful drug that, in powder form, increasingly has been cut into heroin or other drugs. It has been a main driver of the U.S. overdose epidemic in recent years. Children are especially vulnerable to overdosing, as ingesting even small amounts of the opioid's residue can be fatal.