A Winnipeg mail carrier who discovered an unresponsive woman while on the job said he was asked to perform CPR despite expressing concerns about white powder on her shirt.

Corey Gallagher discovered the woman Tuesday morning in a St. Vital apartment lobby while delivering mail on his route.

“This was something very shocking…when you see someone completely unresponsive,” Gallagher said. “Her chest wasn’t moving. She wasn’t breathing.”

Gallagher said he first tried calling out to the woman to see if she was alert.

When she didn’t respond, he called 911 and said he told the dispatcher he was quite sure the woman overdosed.

He said other people in the building walked by the woman, but didn't intervene.

Gallagher said the 911 dispatcher patched him through to a paramedic who first asked him if there was a defibrillator anywhere around, but there wasn’t one.

Then, Gallagher said the paramedic on the phone asked him to check if the woman was breathing.

“It was pretty scary,” Gallagher recalled. “It was kind of like me sitting there. staring intently at the lady and there was no breaths, no nothing.”

When Gallagher said she wasn’t breathing, he said the paramedic asked him to perform CPR, but Gallagher decided not to because he was concerned the white powder may be fentanyl.

“I told them I wasn’t feeling comfortable,” Gallagher said. “It was the first thing that crossed my mind in hearing about it on the news of how potent it is and then what kind of risk am I going to put myself at.”

Simply being exposed to the toxic and potent opioid can be fatal.

Despite Gallagher’s hesitation, he said the paramedic on the phone continued asking him to do CPR.

“His job is to try and save a life, and I think he did his job,” Gallagher said. “I don’t blame the paramedics. I don’t think they had all the facts.”

Gallagher said he was on the phone with the paramedic for around seven minutes before a separate crew arrived on scene and helped the woman.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service has reviewed the call and determined it was handled within the standards of the Medical Priority Dispatch System.

A spokesperson said calls like the one Gallagher made are received by a 911 call-taker, and then patched through to the WFPS Communications Centre to an operator who is licensed to provide emergency medical services in Manitoba.

The call-takers may ask callers to help a person requiring assistance until paramedics arrive, but ultimately it’s the caller’s choice whether to physically engage with the patient.

St. John Ambulance CEO Brent Fowler said he can't comment on the incident itself but that in a hectic situation, it can be difficult for 911 dispatchers to get all the facts when responding to emergency calls.

Fowler said a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions is the most effective way to perform CPR. However, if you’re uncomfortable chest compressions alone is better than nothing.

But Fowler said people shouldn't put themselves in danger when trying to rescue someone else.

“From our point of view, the safety of the rescuers is first and foremost,” Fowler said. "It's a very personal decision."

“Fentanyl has come up more and more in the last couple months. It used to be HIV was always the concern, then tuberculosis was the concern, but really it’s now fentanyl. We’re hearing that regularly in our classrooms.”

Gallagher said he’s thought a lot about whether or not he did the right thing.

“Maybe I overreacted. Maybe I’m blowing things out of context,” he said. “Everyone I talked to said I did the right thing.”

“That’s why I called them (911), is to try and save a life and hopefully they did that, but I don’t feel totally responsible to be doing that.”

There’s no word on the woman’s condition or if the white powder was fentanyl.