Lake Grove, NY, USA - January 13, 2024

In a horrifying turn of events, on January 13, 2024, emergency personnel from the Suffolk County Police Department and the Ronkonkoma Fire Department rushed to Colmar Avenue in Lake Grove following an alarming 911 call reporting an unresponsive infant. Upon arrival, rescuers were greeted by a frightening scene: “John Doe,” an 11-month-old child, was blue, had difficulty breathing, and was showing signs of extreme distress.

En route to Stony Brook Hospital, the child's condition quickly deteriorated, prompting the intervention of a MedCat emergency medical technician (EMT). Finding symptoms consistent with opiate poisoning, doctors administered Narcan, a life-saving antidote, to the infant.

Miraculously, five minutes after the injection, the child began to breathe on his own and showed signs of recovery.

However, the ordeal for the baby was far from over. Upon arrival at the hospital, medical personnel diagnosed him with acute fentanyl toxicity, hypoxia, and respiratory failure, which required additional doses of Narcan to be administered to the pediatric emergency department. The infant was subsequently admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit where he received continuous Narcan therapy to reduce the risk of respiratory complications associated with opioid toxicity.

As a result of the incident, which occurred on April 29, 2024, two people, including the child's father, were charged in connection with a near-fatal fentanyl poisoning.