A 10-month-old baby suffered an accidental fentanyl overdose Tuesday at a Marina district playground, the boy’s father told The Chronicle in an interview, a medical emergency that required paramedics to administer overdose-reversing medication Narcan.
The boy’s father, Ivan Matkovic, who lives with his wife, twin sons and dogs in the neighborhood, described the incident Wednesday and also shared a hospital report with The Chronicle that confirmed the overdose. The Chronicle was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the hospital report, which it agreed not to publish in full to protect the family’s privacy.
The after-visit summary from Sutter Health’s CPMC hospital states the diagnosis as “accidental fentanyl overdose, initial encounter” followed by “respiratory arrest.” The document states the hospital completed a urine fentanyl screening among other lab tests.
The record, printed at 10:56 p.m. on Nov. 29, states that the baby was observed for “more than six hours after receiving Narcan,” was breathing well and the fentanyl should be out of his system, so he was safe to go home. The record had “Epic” printed in the corner with the same logo as the records company used by the hospital system.
Sutter Health could not confirm whether the child was a patient or the authenticity of the specific record, because of patient privacy, although it confirmed that patients do receive after-visit summaries.
News of the baby’s overdose made the rounds on social media Wednesday with residents and elected officials arguing the incident underscored the depth of the city’s drug crisis. Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who could not independently confirm the incident, said it’s not unprecedented for children to accidentally ingest and overdose on fentanyl and blamed the drug for “largely driving the largest public health calamity since AIDS,” which demands a citywide response. The incident is likely to spark renewed debate about the city’s response to the fentanyl epidemic.
City officials said they could not confirm the cause of the medical emergency, the claim fentanyl was ingested or whether Narcan was used, citing patient privacy laws. Paramedics did revive a child in cardiac arrest at Moscone Park at 2:56 p.m. on Tuesday, said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesperson for the city Fire Department.
San Francisco police spokesperson Robert Rueca said officers were dispatched to a local hospital at 10:16 p.m. and heard from the child’s parent that the boy had a medical emergency at the park with a babysitter around 2:30 p.m. Rueca confirmed the child was exposed to fentanyl, but said he was not able to confirm if the child’s medical emergency was the result of fentanyl.
“I’m frankly ignorant to the fentanyl problem,” Matkovic said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I’m just a dad that something bad happened to. I just wanted to let people know that along with coyotes and RSV and COVID, this is another thing to add to your checklist of things that you’re looking out for, because we weren’t.”
Matkovic said he was working from home on Tuesday when his nanny, who was with his twins at the park, called. One of your sons isn’t breathing well, he remembered her saying. He left immediately, then she called again, saying, he’s turning blue; I’m going to administer CPR and call 911.
By the time Matkovic arrived at the grassy area beside one of Moscone Park’s playgrounds on Chestnut Street within 10 minutes, his son wasn’t moving — but he did have a pulse and some color. Paramedics hovered over the baby, holding a mask connected to a breathing apparatus over his son’s mouth, he said.
Paramedics put the 10-month-old on a gurney and put him into the back of an ambulance. They asked Matkovic questions about his son’s medical history and weight, and seeing nothing obstructing his son’s ability to breathe, administered Narcan. Within seconds, the baby started crying and breathing again, Matkovic said.
It could have just been coincidence, Matkovic said, but medical staff were concerned enough to run lab tests at the hospital that confirmed his son had fentanyl in his system. After observation, the family went home around midnight.
Matkovic said his nanny told him his son was crawling in the grass, putting leaves in his mouth, like he normally does, and she didn’t see what the baby touched or ingested, or notice any drugs, foil or needles.
Spokespeople for the police and the Recreation and Park Department said they didn’t find any drugs or paraphernalia after searching the park that evening. Matkovic said police told him the likeliest exposure was powder, which is hard to detect.
Matkovic said he had no reason to believe that his nanny, who the family has employed for about half a year, or anyone else at the park had fentanyl or gave it to the child. Instead, he praised the quick actions of the nanny and paramedics.
“Really if it wasn’t for her and her fast reactions, we might not be with our son today,” he said.
Matkovic said his son was in good health on Wednesday. He posted about his experience on Nextdoor on Tuesday evening while still at the hospital, warning other parents, and was met with a flood of concerned messages from residents and inquiries from the media. He sounded calm in a phone interview, albeit shocked by the experience and resolute to get the word out.
“It’s not just dealers and people you don’t know who are impacted by this, it’s tipping over into the broader populace, and it feels like it needs that kind of COVID-like attention, and it doesn’t seem like it’s getting that,” he said.
Small children have died, and some have survived, after accidentally ingesting fentanyl, according to a national study that looked at 25 cases from 2004 to 2013. Twelve cases were fatal, including the youngest case of a 1-year-old. Boys as young as 2 survived. The majority of cases occurred for boys between the ages of 2 and 4.
Police said they are working with park officials to ensure the area remains free of drug use and elements that may contribute to contamination of the playgrounds.
Caregivers at the playground on Wednesday expressed dismay about the incident.
Esperanza Romero, a nanny to two young children who says she has been coming to the playground for 25 years, said she heard the ambulance on Tuesday afternoon, but didn’t see the actual incident unfold. Still, she was saddened by what she’d heard.
“I’m here every single day,” she said. “This has never happened.”
Nanny Julie Jones, who was caring for a preschooler, said the incident didn’t surprise her, given the realities of living in San Francisco.
“You literally have to watch their every move,” Jones, said. “Does it make me nervous? Yeah. But we found glass over there… syringes… I don’t let kids go into the bushes. Every playground has these problems.”
San Francisco resident Ryan Dempsey hadn’t yet heard of the incident but said he’s spoken to his older kids about drugs when they see people passed out on the city’s sidewalks. The father of three sons — ages 6, 4 and 10 months — said he explains that drugs like heroin and fentanyl can make people go to sleep, but if they take too much, it can kill them.
“I think (drugs) have become a neighborhood issue in San Francisco instead of just the Tenderloin,” he said. “But maybe it’s good — maybe we all have to see it.”
Residents were already looking to officials for answers about the incident Wednesday with people saying on social media they had called the mayor and supervisors.
Supervisor Catherine Stefani, whose district includes the playground, said while the details of the incident are still being investigated, it’s certain “our drug crisis is out of control and it’s affecting all corners of our city. It is absolutely unacceptable that children can’t safely play in our parks because traces of fentanyl or drug paraphernalia are present.”
She said she hoped this would be a “wake-up call” and added that patrols will be stepped up in the area.
Mayor London Breed’s spokesperson, Parisa Safarzadeh, said the mayor’s office was still figuring out what had happened, but that “thankfully a fatal incident was avoided thanks to the quick response of EMS and fire.”
Matkovic said he realized that his son’s experience may be an outlier, but it was still concerning.
“Something like this may never happen again,” he said. “It could be just a freak thing, but it’s a crisis in general and these kinds of incidents are going to happen unless something changes.”
Chronicle staff writer Annie Vainshtein contributed to this report.
Mallory Moench (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench