Windsor hospital staff and first responders are preparing for a new drug to hit Windsor.
It is called carfentanil and just tiny amounts of the drug can dangerously alter a person's breathing and render them unconscious. Carfentanil is an animal tranquilizer that is mixed with heroin and other drugs.
It is extremely potent and is 10,000 times stronger than heroin.
Lead Emergency Room Physician at Windsor Regional Hospitals' Ouellette Campus Paul Bradford says the drug is so powerful it can spread through skin contact or by inhaling tiny particles in the air around it.
He says first responders are the most at risk for coming into contact with the drug.
"We have done a bit of training with EMS, paramedics and the police," says Bradford. "Basically the big thing is to wear gloves, goggles and a mask so that you are not inhaling anything and exposing yourself. That is really just the focus, to stop the particles coming into contact with you."
Bradford says hospital staff are no strangers to street drugs.
"We have been following this for a bit, we are really looking at a challenge to first responders," says Bradford. "We have already had a long experience dealing with opiates in the community with drug addicts and unconscious patients. But this really is a much stronger drug, it is over a thousand times stronger than the drugs that we are use to dealing with in the streets."
Bradford says In the event carfentanil cases do enter Windsor's Emergency Rooms, staff will wear face shields, masks, extra gloves and change their clothes to avoid contamination.