PHOENIX — Two young kids in the Valley nearly lost their lives after having fentanyl in their system.
Phoenix police said they were separate incidents. In both cases, the babies were taken to the hospital when doctors discovered they had ingested fentanyl.
"That is a terrifying thing for everyone," said Special Agent Cheryl Oz with the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Fentanyl is in your community right now." Special Agent Oz is in charge of the Phoenix Field Division, which covers the entire state.
She said these cases would continue as fentanyl comes in from over the border. "Keep these, these pills of poison outside the reach of your children, outside of your home," special agent Oz said.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, 96 opioid overdoses in kids ranging from 17 years old to newborns have been reported so far this year. Oz said in most cases, young kids are getting ahold of fentanyl from inside their homes.
"If you ever have toddlers in your own house, nothing is off limits," Oz said. "If it's in your house, kids are going to touch it, they are curious, they are going to look at it, and things go in their mouth."
Phoenix police said they did find fentanyl in one of the recent cases of an infant overdosing. Dr. Gary Kirkilas, a pediatrician with Phoenix Children's, believes that's what doctors have also seen.
"That's the way [kids] learn, and I think that's probably the mechanism of how younger kids are getting to it," Dr. Kirkilas said.
He also discussed what happens to a child once the drug is ingested. Everything starts to shut down, "The heart rate, respiratory rate, and if a child were to take one, it would decrease their respiratory drive so much to where it would go to failure."
The window of time to save the child also goes down significantly compared to an adult.
Both Oz and Kirkilas agree parents need to warn their kids about fentanyl. As for preventing these overdoses in young kids, Oz said there is only one solution. "The way to save lives is by saying no. Don't bring these deadly pills into your home, don't have them near your children."
State data also shows so far this year, there have been 372 opioid deaths in the state, which is significantly lower than the more than 2,000 reported deaths last year.
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