Florida police officer recounts fentanyl poisoning during traffic stop: 'Felt like I was choking'

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Florida police officer recounts collapsing after fentanyl exposure: 'Didn't think I was overdosing'

Florida police officer Courtney Bannick joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss the incident and how the fentanyl crisis has devastated communities in the state. 

A Florida police officer recounted the moments leading up to her collapse during a routine traffic stop that exposed her to fentanyl after the terrifying ordeal was caught on bodycam video. 

Tavares Police Officer Courtney Bannick joined "America's Newsroom" Thursday to discuss the incident just two days after her colleagues sprang into action with Narcan to save her life.

"When opening the dollar bill, I partially opened it because I could feel something inside of it," Bannick told anchors Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer. "I noticed a white powdery substance. I've dealt with fentanyl many times before, so I believe that's what it was. And I wrapped it back up, put it in there. We kind of sealed it away and went from there."

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A police officer on the same scene as Bannick saw that she was fading out of consciousness and needed medical attention. Bannick was taken to a local hospital where she's expected to make a full recovery. (Tavares Police Department)

Bannick said the routine traffic stop was one that she had completed "hundreds" of times before experiencing the life-threatening exposure. 

After searching a vehicle and its occupants, she ultimately found a dollar bill with the deadly drug inside. 

She alerted the two other officers that were with her at the scene of her finding. 

"I don't really remember much of the incident, but I do know that when I found the narcotics, it was wrapped up into a dollar bill, so I think I was trying to explain to them where exactly the drugs that I believed I was exposed to at the time was out, so they were aware, so it didn't happen to them as well," Bannick said. 

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After finding the dollar bill, Bannick said they decided to take the drugs back to the police department to be tested since the strong winds could potentially endanger her and the other officers dealing with the drug. 

"When I went to notify dispatch that we were actually going to head to the police department, I started to feel very lightheaded, and I couldn't really talk," Bannick said. "I felt like I was choking. After watching the bodycam, now I hear myself, I was choking, but I remember consciously being aware I didn't think I was overdosing." 

"That never went through my mind at the time."

Officer Courtney Bannick, who discovered the narcotics, had difficulty breathing after the passenger was taken to the Lake County Jail, the police department said. (Tavares Police Department)

One police officer's bodycam footage showed her collapsing, which prompted the officers to administer three doses of Narcan to reverse the poisoning, as she drifted in and out of consciousness. 

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She attributed the officer's quick thinking to saving her life. 

Although she is thankful to be alive, she warned the dangerous trend is all but rare in her Florida community as the fentanyl crisis continues to derail public safety. 

"We respond to overdoses almost every shift," she said. "If it's not every shift, it's every other we deal with that. I would say I see fentanyl overdoses or in many people's possession almost weekly here."