VIDEO: Some of Hawaii’s first responders are now using a high-tech tool to protect themselves from fentanyl exposure on the job.
It’s a mobile laboratory that can identify a variety of different drugs and results are available in seconds.
It’s called a TruNarc portable spectrometer and it allows first responders to know what kind of drug they’re dealing with without ever having to touch it. That’s especially valuable given how widespread fentanyl has become.
“According to the manufacturer, you can do it through a zip lock bag,” said Gary Yabuta. Yabuta, the head of Hawaii’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, says the portable spectrometer has become a tool first responders are constantly turning to.
“Not only for overdose deaths,” he said. “But law enforcement use it when they recover suspected illicit drugs from a crime scene. It’s simple. Easy to carry.”