LETHBRIDGE — Paramedics say the quick actions of a police officer in southern Alberta saved the life of a 21-year-old man.
It happened Sunday night in a park in Lethbridge, when acting Sgt. Chris Stock answered a call.
He found an unconscious man who had signs of a drug overdose.
The man did not have a pulse and wasn’t breathing so Stock and another man started CPR and they were able to revive the victim.
After being placed in the recovery position the man stopped breathing again and Stock repeated CPR until the victim resumed breathing and regained consciousness.
EMS then arrived and transported the man to hospital for further treatment.
Police determined the man had taken half of a fentanyl pill and had been walking through the park with his friends when he went into medical distress.
Police are once again warning the community that fentanyl is deadly. There is no safe amount and a dosage equivalent to just two grains of salt can be fatal.
In the first six months of 2015 there have been 145 people die from taking fentanyl in Alberta.