Only workers on duty at assisted living facility overdose on the job in East Haven, police say

Hartford Courant - 9/23/2021

The only two employees working at an East Haven assisted living facility Wednesday afternoon overdosed on fentanyl while on the job, police said.

A visiting nurse who happened to stop by Caroline Manor, 37 Clark Ave., to check on a patient found the two workers and called 911, they said. No residents were injured.

The nurse made the discovery shortly before 3:10 p.m. She found a female employee suffering from an overdose on the main floor, and a male worker suffering from an overdose in a lower-floor office, police said. Narcotics, later determined to be the potent synthetic opioid Fentanyl, were left out in plain view.

Firefighters administered naloxone, which reverses the effects of opioids, and the two were rushed to the hospital. Police didn’t have information about how they were doing.

“The facility did not have any other staff on scene during this incident and while this was occurring, patients were left with no supervision,” Police Capt. Joseph M. Murgo said.

The incident is under investigation. No one at the facility could be reached for comment Thursday morning.

This isn’t the first time authorities uncovered problems at the facility, Murgo said. On Aug. 26, the local fire marshal and representatives of the state Department of Public Health conducted a surprise inspection and found several violations, he said.

A reinspection was scheduled for Oct. 6.

Christine Dempsey may be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.