Officer testifies on Florida fentanyl bill after being exposed on duty: ‘This means a lot to us’ 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A Collier County Sheriff’s corporal testified in support a Florida House bill that would make it a second degree felony if someone exposes a first responder to fentanyl and an overdose or serious bodily injury occurs.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville, said in recent years, there has been a reported increase in law enforcement and first responders having symptoms due to fentanyl exposure.

Baker is carrying HB 231 in the House while Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, is carrying a similar bill in the Senate.

The House version passed through three committee stops while the Senate version still awaits two more meetings.

Collier County Sheriff’s Cpl. Robert Palmer testified during the Judiciary Committee meeting and shared a story where he unknowingly overdosed due to a fentanyl exposure while on duty.

Palmer said on April 12, 2023, he responded to a domestic disturbance call between a couple where officers realized no crime occurred. Palmer said the female, who is handicapped, asked officers for assistance with her belongings to get down to the first floor, and they assisted.

After assisting, Palmer said his “vision began to narrow” and he vaguely remembered asking the woman if there was any fentanyl at the home.

He said he “blacked out” and was administered two doses of Narcan by EMS, which “brought him back.”

“This is something that’s in the back of every first responder’s mind […] Not only we have to deal with all these other threats, we know how there’s have this invisible threat that we’re facing potential on each and every call,” Palmer said.

“It really means a lot to all of us on the ground,” he said.

Baker told lawmakers that first responders are “putting their life on the line and now they’re trying to rescue someone partaking in that illegal activity.”

She said she believes “that does need to be penalized.”

The bill seeks to protect first responders by creating a criminal penalty if a person 18 years or older, who was unlawfully in possession of fentanyl, exposes a first responder to the fentanyl in an overdose or serious bodily injury of the first responder occurs.

The bill provides for an “affirmative defense if the first responder acted outside the scope of ordinary care in his or her profession, that he or she caused or substantially contributed to the exposure.”

An amendment also passed that would reduce the penalty for the violation from a first degree to a second degree. It clarifies that the exposure could be intentional or unintentional.

“This bill makes sure that individuals that put our first responders lives at risk are held accountable for their actions,” Baker said.

The bill provides an effective date of Oct. 1.