'Within minutes, if not seconds' of tragedy: Minnesota police officers save 2-month-old baby exposed to fentanyl

'Within minutes, if not seconds' of tragedy: Minnesota police officers save 2-month-old baby exposed to fentanyl

Twin babies in a northeast Minneapolis home survived after being exposed to fentanyl and having difficulty breathing, according to Minneapolis Police. Paramedics used Naloxone and CPR to stabilize the 2-month-old twin infants and transported them to the Hennepin County Medical Center.

No arrests have been made. Many details have not been made available, and Minneapolis Police said they are investigating the case.

Minneapolis Second Precinct Inspector Nick Torborg said his officers were dispatched to a medical emergency during the first week of January, in which a parent called 911 to report their child was not breathing.

By the time officers made it to the home, Torborg said paramedics were loading the baby onto an ambulance to be taken to the hospital. Officers followed the ambulance to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where they learned the child was exposed to fentanyl and had suffered an overdose. That is also when officers learned the 2-month-old had a twin at home, Torborg said.

Officers at the hospital then called their sergeant at the police station. When other officers at the station learned the infant was exposed to fentanyl and their sibling was still at home, they jumped into action. The two immediately headed to the original location and called an ambulance, Torborg said.

"In the middle of their lunch, they jumped up and responded to the original scene where the first infant was having difficulty breathing," Torborg said.

When officers arrived at the home, they noticed the second baby, held in the arms of the parent who opened the door, was also having trouble breathing. "It appeared to Officer Fuchs that the infant was having some kind of respiratory issue, although he wasn't sure, so he ran the baby down to the ambulance that was already staged outside. The paramedics quickly realized the baby was in serious condition," Torborg explained. "In fact, shortly after the baby was in the ambulance, the baby stopped breathing and required CPR, so they rushed that baby to HCMC."

"Luckily, the doctors were able to revive the baby and both are expected to survive now," Torborg said. "This doesn't happen very often, but the emergency room doctor who worked on the second infant actually sought out after Officer Fuchs, approached him and shook his hand and told him that his actions saved the baby's life."

The most up-to-date data shows 1,274 Minnesotans died from a drug overdose in 2023—an 8% drop in the number of deaths for the first time since 2018.

"Even though opioid-involved deaths were down in general, the fentanyl deaths involved deaths were 70% of the total overdoses," explained Minnesota Department of Health Epidemiologist Mary DeLaquil. She said much like the rest of the country, overdoses continue to be a problem across Minnesota. "It affects everyone, society at large—children of people, our neighbors, our friends. Every point in my data is a life lost to our state."

Access to Naloxone, fentanyl test strips, syringe service and harm reduction programs, creating community groups and safe zones, and helping people navigate their addictions safely are vital to the community, said Minnesota Department of Health Community Prevention Lead Willie Pearl Evans.

"The opposite of addiction is social connection, so we have organizations that are walking alongside folks," she said. "They're not telling them that you need to go to treatment, they're just asking, 'How can I help you today?'" Evans said groups such as Twin Cities Recovery Project, Southside Harm Reduction and Hennepin Healthcare Systems are eager to help people across the community. "Opioid use disorders is a treatable medical condition."

Evans said she is optimistic the data will continue trending in the right direction. "I am very optimistic, but given these two children overdosing, it informs us that there's more work to be done."

Torborg said this case is another example of the toll fentanyl is taking on society. "We were within minutes, if not seconds, of this being a terrible tragedy."

He's thankful his officers were there to help save two young lives. "They're heroic," he said. "The intelligence they showed and the experience they showed and entrusting their gut feelings; I think it was incredibly impressive, and I'm just proud of them, I'm proud to know them."