Nick Hempel remembers walking into an apartment and seeing a man face down on the kitchen table, as a result of an apparent overdose. The man was unconscious. An overdose seemed likely but there were no needles in sight, said Hempel, division chief of EMS for the Racine Fire Department. When responders lifted the man’s head, the drug use became apparent. “The syringe was sticking out of his forehead,” Hempel said. There are myriad dangers present when first responders, whether police or EMS, arrive at any emergency scene. Typically they are walking into unfamiliar territory. With a recent influx of designer drugs, namely synthetic opioids, responders are now dealing with additional stress from more calls and a range of potencies in drugs. Overdoses are becoming commonplace in Racine County and around the nation, according to Chris Eberlein, medical adviser for the southwest region of the Department of Health Services. And he sees increased wear on EMS personnel.