The Drug Enforcement Agency released a new set of guidelines Tuesday to help first responders know how to handle the deadly drug fentanyl in the battle against the national opioid epidemic, NBC News reported.

"Assume the worst," DEA acting chief Chuck Rosenberg says in a video accompanying the guideline. "Don't touch this stuff or the wrappings that it comes in without the proper personal protective equipment."

Rosenberg said the guideline, produced with help from police officers in Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Georgia, should be required reading for first responders

The DEA recently moved to declare the designer drug Acryl fentanyl a controlled substance and make it illegal to buy online.

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