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Ohio police investigate toddler’s drug overdose

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) – Police are investigating how a 14-month-old child who overdosed got drugs.

Investigators were called to the fire department on Shields Road on Tuesday afternoon after reports that a toddler taken to firefighters was not breathing.

Personnel at the fire department said they were told that the child’s older brother was feeding her chips and she began to choke.

Crews performed CPR to get the girl to start breathing again and then took her to Akron Children’s Hospital in Boardman.

A social worker at the hospital later told police that the painkiller oxycodone was found in the girl’s blood. Hospital employees had to give her several doses of naloxone, an opioid-reversal drug, and take her to Akron Children’s main hospital for further treatment.

The child’s mother, a home health aide, said she didn’t know why the girl had drugs in her system. She said she took her to work with her that day because she didn’t have a babysitter.

She said while driving to meet with another patient, she noticed that her daughter was turning blue and gasping for air. A passerby helped her get the girl to the fire station.

Police searched the woman’s car and house. Officers reported finding a digital scale with residue in a closet at the house as well as a marijuana pipe with residue in an upstairs bedroom.

No one has been charged yet, as police are trying to determine the source of the opioids.