A 22-year veteran with the Camas Fire Department was in the Clark County Jail on Monday night for allegedly misappropriating fentanyl citrate, a narcotic pain reliever that paramedics mostly use in small doses for heart attack victims.

Bradley C. Allen, 60, of Camas was being held on $15,000 bail on suspicion of procuring the drug without a prescription and delivering a substance in lieu of a controlled substance, police said.

The latter charge relates to taking the drug from a vial and refilling it with saline, an official said.

Allen, whose rank is paramedic captain, has been placed on administrative leave during an ongoing investigation, according to a bulletin from the Camas Police Department.

“We’re all disappointed,” Fire Chief Leo Leon said Monday night. “If it proves to be true, he embarrassed all 45 of us in the department."

The problem surfaced Friday, Leon said, during a daily check of medications and other supplies, when a paramedic noticed a vial containing the drug had been tampered with, and two of the normally stocked three were missing.

One of Allen’s duties was managing the department’s medical supplies, police said.

Fire officials notified Camas police and officers interviewed everyone involved.

A search of the building was performed to find the missing vials of the powerful narcotic, which must be closely monitored.

Allen then produced the missing vials, Leon said.

Paramedics use small doses of the drug, mainly to relieve chest pains during heart attacks, instead of morphine, which causes more side effects, Leon said.

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.

Print this article