It has puzzled philosophers, scholars and those aspiring to be cool for generations: what is it that makes someone cool? Now it appears that the alchemical code has finally been cracked.

There are six specific attributes needed to be cool, according to a study published this week by the American Psychological Association.

It found that cool people are generally perceived to be extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous, according to the survey of 6,000 participants from 12 countries including the USA, Australia and South Africa.

So what does a cool person make of it?

Chris Black, the co-host of the podcast How Long Gone (which is cool) and the founder of Done to Death Projects, a brand consultancy with fashion clients including Stüssy (also very cool), says that while the traits are “relatively accurate” for him, cool is something that cannot be easily outlined. “The je ne sais quoi of the whole thing has always been what I associate with cool,” he says.

Does Black like being described as cool? “It’s become a pretty general word. I don’t think it has the sort of gravitas that it once had. There are things I don’t embody that I think make people cool. So it’s tough to think of yourself as it, no matter how much you want it.”

Philippa Snow, a writer and cultural critic whose latest book, It’s Terrible the Things I Have to Do to Be Me, explores female celebrities and the price of femininity, says trying to define cool is similar to defining charisma. “Like the famous quote about pornography, it’s tempting to say about both that you know it when you see it.”

Some suggest that sprezzatura, an Italian word first used about by Baldassare Castiglione in 1528 and defined as “a certain nonchalance, to conceal all art and make what one does or say appear to be without effort” captures the earliest essence of what cool is.

Cool as a characterisation originated from 1940s jazz culture, when the black musician Lester Young challenged racial norms by refusing to smile when performing. He also used fashion as a marker of defiance, wearing sunglasses indoors on stage. Not long after he coined the slang term “that’s cool”, his fans began to use it when referencing him.

View image in fullscreen Charli xcx, performing at Glastonbury in June, is still considered cool – despite describing herself as such. Photograph: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP

Prof Joel Dinerstein, who has taught a course called The History of Cool at Tulane University, Louisiana, for more than 25 years, says the terms he associates with cool people are “rebellious” and “charismatic”, flagging that another key quality is self-authorisation.

For Black, whose line of work is based around finding cool people to partner with brands, someone “being comfortable with who they are and what they say” is his “real baseline for coolness”. His criteria also includes someone “being very, very good at what they do”, saying it “shows a level of dedication and self-respect that I think is deeply cool”.

While Pierre Bourdieu’s 1970s concept of cultural capital is not directly a theory on coolness, cultural and social assets both play into the notion of cool. Nowadays, social media means being cool is often less about a person and more about an aesthetic that can be carefully curated. Unlike a person, however, as soon as an item becomes mainstream, it is generally no longer deemed cool. See Labubus and Stanley cups.

Conversely, Brat – the cultural phenomenon unleashed by Charli xcx a full year ago – is still considered cool. At Glastonbury, she did something that typically a cool person would never do – describing herself as cool. “Thank you so much, you’re fucking cool as fuck. But not as cool as me, bitch!” she shouted as she wrapped up her set.

Each year, Dinerstein asks his students who they perceive as cool. This year’s answers spanned everyone from the composer Hans Zimmer to the singer Lenny Kravitz.

Snow suggests Rihanna would be considered cool by many millennials. “There’s something so delightfully don’t-care about her becoming one of the biggest musical performers in the world, and then choosing not to give us another album for over a decade. Making us wait and still commanding our attention with not only her other projects but her image itself is powerful and cool, in an almost S&M-adjacent fashion.”

Black says youth will always be cool. “That has fucked us in some ways because we all think we should be at our peak at 23, but as you age you realise it usually takes people to their 50s to work out what they actually like.”

And perhaps, there lies a key point overlooked by researchers. Youths. Speaking to two gen Z-ers, they reveal the word “cool” as an adjective is becoming defunct in their lexicon. In its place? “Sick” and “lowkey”.

Things that are definitely not cool

ChatGPT

Pretending not to be “on the pen” (using weight loss jabs) when you are

Cowboy boots

Labubus

Using corporate jargon outside work. For example, posting holiday photos on Instagram with the caption “highlights from Q1”

Talking about sleep scores

Giant adult sippy cups

LinkedIn

Birkin bags

Including your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator result in your dating bio

Things that are cool

Next time you wake from a sound sleep and roll over to see those familiar numbers on the bedside clock, know that you’re not alone. Nighttime awakenings are a common phenomenon.

Advertisement Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy

But what’s going on?

Reasons why you’re waking up at 3 a.m.

“For adults who go to sleep at standard times — say, 10 p.m. or so — 3 a.m. is typically when you’re in REM sleep,” says sleep medicine specialist Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, DO. REM is the lightest stage of sleep.

From bathroom breaks to racing thoughts, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer discusses common causes of late-night awakenings and how to get a handle on them.

Trips to the bathroom

Even while you’re asleep, your body is hard at work breaking down what you ate and drank that day. That’s why it’s natural to wake up needing to go to the bathroom once in a while, especially if you had a tall glass of water close to bedtime. But if it becomes too common, it could be a sign of nocturia.

What to do about it: Limit fluids before bed to see if that puts your late-night bathroom breaks to rest. If not, talk to a healthcare provider to see if you could be dealing with an underlying issue.

Light exposure

That street light shining into your bed could be doing more harm than you realize. Even if you can fall asleep in a bright room, your brain may have trouble staying asleep.

“Light exposure at night is absorbed through our eyes into our retina, and our brain starts to think it’s daytime because we’re in a well-lit environment,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer explains.

Advertisement

What to do about it: Go as dark as possible with blackout curtains or a sleep mask.

A noisy environment

Maybe it’s an ambulance siren blaring, a neighbor’s radio blasting or your roommate watching TV down the hall.

“External sleep disturbances can cause you to wake in the middle of the night,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says. “It’s more likely to happen very early in the morning, as you’re coming out of REM sleep.”

What to do about it: Cultivate quiet with a white or pink noise machine (or app) or a good set of earplugs.

Stress, anxiety or depression

Sometimes, it’s not about outside distractions but internal ones.

Stress. A tough day can cause racing thoughts that jolt you awake. More serious stress can lead to nightmares or sleep paralysis.

A tough day can cause racing thoughts that jolt you awake. More serious stress can lead to nightmares or sleep paralysis. Anxiety. Yep, worrying can trigger wakeups. “People with anxiety tend to have more insomnia than those without mood disorders,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer notes.

Yep, worrying can trigger wakeups. “People with anxiety tend to have more insomnia than those without mood disorders,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer notes. Depression. It’s common for people with depression to experience poor sleep patterns, which can lead to oversleeping and drowsiness during the day.

All these factors can be temporary, but if untreated, they can snowball into sleep disorders.

What to do about it: Everyone gets overwhelmed or sad once in a while, but chronic stress, anxiety and depression can have profound effects. If they keep you from sleeping through the night, reach out to a healthcare provider.

Napping

A midday catnap can feel soooo good … until you wake up for no apparent reason in the middle of the night.

“Naps can undermine your nighttime sleep,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer warns. “For most people, avoiding napping during the day will lead to better quality sleep at night.”

What to do about it: If you work nights or have a condition like hypersomnia, naps may be necessary for your health. Otherwise, try to avoid them during the day. If you must nap, do so for no longer than 20 minutes.

Pain

Your sleeping position can cause or worsen overnight pain. Other types of pain that may wake you up at night include:

What to do about it: Adjusting your sleep position may help. But if pain causes frequent wakeups, ask your provider about more comprehensive pain management options.

Factors related to aging

Did you know that your sleep patterns change as you get older? More than half of adults over 65 report having at least one type of recurring sleep problem.

Age-related factors that can interrupt sleep include:

Lifestyle changes (like retirement) that impact sleep/wake schedules

Chronic conditions like heart failure, arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease

Psychological distress or psychiatric disorders

Medication side effects

Advertisement

“As we get older, our sleep rhythms get a bit more fragile,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer confirms. “So, it becomes more important than ever to develop soothing rituals around falling asleep.”

What to do about it: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even without a work schedule to guide you. And adopt a calming nighttime routine that primes you for sleep. If a health condition is behind your late-night wakeups, consider seeing a geriatrician for specialized guidance.

Alcohol

Don’t be fooled by the idea of a nightcap to help you sleep. Drinking alcohol before bed can disrupt your sleep cycle and leave you more tired than ever.

“Alcohol helps you fall asleep, but sleep is very fragmented afterward,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer explains.

What to do about it: Have your last drink at least three hours before you hit the hay.

Sleep disorders

Sometimes, nighttime awakenings rise to the level of sleep disorders.

“Most sleep disorders are defined as having symptoms for at least three months,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says. “But in reality, most people who come to a sleep disorder expert have had symptoms for years.”

Regular nighttime wakeups can be a symptom of conditions like:

Insomnia. When you have trouble sleeping, the effects can worsen with time.

When you have trouble sleeping, the effects can worsen with time. Sleep apnea. This condition causes you to stop breathing occasionally as you sleep, which can wake you, disrupt your heart rhythm and reduce the flow of oxygen to your body. “Sleep apnea is most common during REM sleep, especially for women,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer notes.

This condition causes you to stop breathing occasionally as you sleep, which can wake you, disrupt your heart rhythm and reduce the flow of oxygen to your body. “Sleep apnea is most common during REM sleep, especially for women,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer notes. Restless legs syndrome. You’re more likely to develop this condition as you age. Fortunately, it’s almost always very treatable.

Advertisement

What to do about it: Only a healthcare provider can diagnose a sleep disorder — and then help you figure out how to manage it. Start with your regular provider or look for a sleep specialist.

Is there any other meaning behind early wakeups?

Some people think waking up at 3 a.m. has deeper spiritual meaning, but hey, that’s not the domain of sleep medicine. Here’s what we do know: There’s likely a scientific reason for your nighttime awakenings — yes, even if you seem to wake up to the exact same numbers on the clock each night.

Bodies can be surprisingly predictable in this way, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says. “At one point, you may have had a reason to wake up at that time, like in response to sleep apnea or a crying baby. Your body can become conditioned to it.”

What to do when you wake up

Next time you wake up at 3 a.m. (or whenever), give yourself 15 to 20 minutes to doze back into dreamland. But if you’re awake longer than that, get out of bed instead.

“When you’re feeling frustrated that you can’t fall back to sleep, it’s best not to keep lying in bed awake,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer advises. “Bed should be a pleasant place to be — but that’s not how it feels when your brain is wide awake, worrying and wondering when you’ll fall asleep again.”

Instead, get up and do something that promotes sleep:

Advertisement

These activities help you relax, shutting off your fight-or-flight response, and activating a “rest-and-digest” response instead. When you feel sleepy again, head back to bed.

Whatever you do, just don’t use your cell phone, check email or use any other electronic devices, as blue light signals to your brain that it’s time to wake up.

Listen to this article.

I step into the booth with some trepidation. I am about to be subjected to strobe lighting while music plays – as part of a research project trying to understand what makes us truly human.

It’s an experience that brings to mind the test in the science fiction film Bladerunner, designed to distinguish humans from artificially created beings posing as humans.

Could I be a robot from the future and not know it? Would I pass the test?

The researchers assure me that this is not actually what this experiment is about. The device that they call the “Dreamachine”, after the public programme, external of the same name, is designed to study how the human brain generates our conscious experiences of the world.

As the strobing begins, and even though my eyes are closed, I see swirling two-dimensional geometric patterns. It’s like jumping into a kaleidoscope, with constantly shifting triangles, pentagons and octagons. The colours are vivid, intense and ever-changing: pinks, magentas and turquoise hues, glowing like neon lights.

The “Dreamachine” brings the brain’s inner activity to the surface with flashing lights, aiming to explore how our thought processes work.

CBP officers conduct X-ray inspections of shipping containers at the Port of Savannah, Georgia, June 28, 2023. Photo by Jerry Glaser

CBP’s position as America’s front line puts it in a position to catch illicit fentanyl coming across the border, particularly in the Southwest. The agency has made unprecedented investments in technology, putting in surveillance systems at the borders and deployed new X-ray technology at the ports of entry:

123 large-scale drive-through X-ray systems, as well as revising the inspection process to significantly increase vehicle and truck scanning rates across the Southwest border.

88 low-energy portals to scan passenger occupied vehicles.

35 multi-energy portals to scan commercially occupied vehicles.

The addition of all these tools allows CBP to scan more vehicles and conveyances in a shorter amount of time, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of the agency’s operations and catching more of the deadly drugs, precursors and equipment used to make the illicit products.

CBP anticipates all systems will be installed in 2026. After these installations, the scanning rates are estimated to increase from 1-2% of personally-owned vehicles to approximately 40%, and from 15-17% for commercial vehicles to more than 70%.

While the high-tech solutions are expected to yield even more illicit drug busts, CBP is also using a definitely low-tech but highly skilled detection method: drug-sniffing dog teams.

“We started training our canine teams on fentanyl in 2017,” adding to the drugs the dogs and their handlers have been trained to detect, said Donna Sifford, the director of CBP’s Field Operations Canine Academy in Front Royal, Virginia. “Currently, we are the only federal agency training [canines] on fentanyl.”

Because of the dangerous nature of fentanyl, extra safety precautions are taken in the training and when the dogs are deployed to the field.

For training, CBP’s Laboratories and Scientific Services has provided pharmaceutical grade fentanyl, which comes wrapped in triple-sealed, industrial-strength polyethylene bags that allow the dogs to smell the drug while keeping them safe from actually being exposed. Training on the safe handling of these aids is part of the curriculum.

While in training, canine instructors carry a fentanyl response kit, consisting of six doses of naloxone nasal spray, such as Narcan – a powerful, short-term antidote to opioid exposures for the people and the dogs – in addition to safety glasses and gloves, among other personal protective equipment. Also, years ago – even before fentanyl came into the picture – they started training the dogs to do a passive response. That means the dogs sit when a drug is indicated, as opposed to a positive response – scratching and biting at the package, which could cause a deadly accidental exposure.

CBP Officer Marcus Johnson training his canine partner Bear at the Field Operations Canine Academy. Photo by Phil Dolinger

“Any time the dog alerts, we automatically presume it is the most dangerous drug, whether fentanyl, meth or other dangerous narcotics,” Sifford said. “We automatically use all the safety protocols.”

CBP is also helping train law enforcement partners here in the U.S., as well as international partners, learn how to train their dogs on the safe detection of fentanyl. “That way, we can increase the detection of fentanyl,” Sifford added.

Trade Enforcement Plays a Critical Role in the Fight

Fentanyl, its precursors and equipment – such as pill presses – used to make the drug often times enters the U.S. through common trade pathways, such as air cargo and express courier. That helps add to the complexity of the threat. These shipments can be declared as legitimate goods because some do have a legitimate purpose, making it crucial to identify the suspect shipments through analysis early on. This is why CBP’s Office of Trade plays a key role in the fight.

Paul Taylor, an Office of Trade specialist, inspects packages at the JFK Mail Facility in New York during Operation Bitter Pill, a special operation that occurs every year at major international mail facilities designed to disrupt, seize, and gather information on violative shippers of counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs. Photo by Jesse Andrews

“We’re looking at supply chain vulnerabilities, different logistic operators, and bringing different perspectives to the same look, as well as bringing more tools to enable the analyses and research,” said Erik Grotz, the director of the office’s Trade Intelligence Division, citing, for example, the tools the Office of Trade uses to stop products being made by forced labor from coming into the U.S. “We’re bringing as many capabilities as we can to bear against the problem set.”

He added many of the chemicals and tools used to make fentanyl have legitimate uses. His office helps identify where those normally legitimate imports are being brought in for illegitimate purposes.

“We are identifying data points in the movement of goods and people, helping reduce the amount of time in analyzing the information to make sure the legitimate trade can continue unencumbered, while also stopping those destined to illicit actors,” Grotz said. “We’re attacking as many different nodes in the illicit supply chain as possible. We’re leaving no stone unturned.”

But exponential increases in the volume of trade entering the U.S. especially small, low value packages that many Americans receive directly to their front door also raises the number of stones that CBP needs to turn over. Fundamental changes in the way modern trade enters the U.S., the complexity of global supply chains, and the unprecedented volume of imported goods have made this more challenging, especially when it comes to the precursors and pill presses used to make synthetic drugs.

Transnational criminal organizations use the opacity and complexity of global supply chains to conceal illegal activity, and they adapt their operations to evade detection, requiring CBP and its law enforcement partners to consistently remain one step ahead of criminal actors. To that end, the Office of Trade – as well as the other offices in CBP tracking and seizing fentanyl – is using information and intelligence to look for the needles in mountains of haystacks, represented by the hundreds of millions of small packages that enter the U.S. each year, without holding up every legitimate shipment.

“We have to look for the people doing it,” said John Everett, the director of Trade’s Advanced Trade Analytics Platform. “We have to find their associates. And that’s where we look in our information, and ask, ‘Who do they typically work with? Who are the carriers? Are they constantly using [the same delivery service] to bring stuff over? How do we put people into the same network and focus our enforcements efforts on that?’”

Piecing together all the information to build a clearer picture of what’s really going on – and doing it in a timely fashion – is the biggest challenge. That’s why the Office of Trade has to work across all CBP offices, departments and law enforcement lines, emblematic of the whole-of-CBP approach being taken.

An Office of Trade specialist goes through boxes during Operation Bitter Pill at the JFK Mail Facility in New York. Photo by Jesse Andrews

“We’re trying to decrease that analytical research cycle so we can quickly identify those targets of value,” Everett said.

It’s also opened up conversations between the agency and the retailers and shippers who rely on a good working relationship with CBP.

“They have a significant part to play, and we need to foster this dialogue to grow and strengthen our partnership with the private sector to make more inroads on this problem set,” Grotz said.

“We have a huge footprint in the industry,” Everett said. “We are the primary conduit for our trade community,” building on a culture of trust between CBP and the trade community and making it easier to get those partners to adjust for the benefit of all.

CBP’s Scientists Part of the Fight

Scientists with CBP’s Laboratories and Scientific Services conduct drug testing at the Port of Memphis Forward Operating Laboratory. Photo by Jerry Glaser

In addition, CBP’s Office of Laboratories and Scientific Services plays a key role in identifying the drugs and even the drugs’ point of origin. One of the key changes the labs made in response to the proliferation of fentanyl was the establishment of 16 forward operating laboratories to augment the capabilities of the main eight state-of-the-art facilities strategically located across the U.S.

“By having these forward operating labs, we are able to analyze the presumptive results made at ports of entry and confirm those results and get the answers back to the officers within 24 hours, as opposed to the days or weeks it might have taken before,” said Terra Cahill, a special advisor in Laboratories and Scientific Services’ Chief Science Officer Division.

Cahill said some of the lab work is now done within CBP, as opposed to farming it out to other agencies, which cuts down analysis time and confirms what CBP’s intelligence suspects. “It’s been great because we can validate things that we read in the intel products. We can verify other reporting that’s out there. It’s real-time information.”

Cahill said CBP’s labs started a joint fentanyl attribution program with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration where CBP sends samples to those entities so each can do analyses unique to their skill sets to add to what CBP has determined about a sample. She said this effort underscores how CBP is leading a whole-of-government approach to the fentanyl problem.

“We bring our experts from these agencies together to try and understand fentanyl attribution, where it’s coming from,” Cahill said. “We’re hoping we’ll be able to say, ‘This seizure is linked to this seizure, and this seizure is linked to this seizure,’ and from these linkages it may help us determine where the samples are coming from, using other intelligence that comes in. Our goal is to collaborate to get a better picture of what the fentanyl smuggling networks look like.”

Randall Phillips oversees the forward operating labs throughout the Southeastern United States, particularly in Miami, New Orleans, and Memphis, Tennessee, as well as covering trade specialties out of Savannah, Georgia. The ports of entry in those locations see a lot of express consignment shipments coming from the same areas where fentanyl, its analogues, precursor chemicals, and pill presses also come from. The laboratories’ quick turnarounds for those ports are making an impact, without delaying shipping that might tip off the bad guys or keep American consumers and businesses from receiving their packages on time.

“We expedite analysis, because if something sits too long, [the bad guys] know something is up,” he said. “Anything we do that delays that analysis is potentially going to impact the success of [law enforcement-controlled deliveries]. That is the reason we have forward operating laboratories.”

Phillips said they have to be a neutral party as scientists. That way, they can feel confident the information given to CBP’s intelligence analysts is valid and without bias, and can lead to more valid case work in investigations.

“We can’t go in with the preconceived notion that something is methamphetamine or fentanyl,” he said. “We have to treat it as a true unknown, and we have to look at the science and see what the science tells us.”

Andrew Laurence a CBP palynologist – a pollen scientist – uses a forensic vacuum to take a pollen sample from a pair of pants. Photo by Shannon Ferguson

In addition to the tools CBP has in the form of all of its labs, they’re employing a truly microscopic technology to find the tiniest of indicators of where something might come from: pollen.

“Pollen is unique to every species of plant on the planet. Think of it as a fingerprint for a plant,” said Andrew Laurence, a CBP palynologist – a pollen scientist. “Every region of the world is made up of either different plants altogether or the same plants but they grow in different abundances.”

So even if the same pollens common to different areas of the world are on something, these scientists can still narrow down the origin depending on the number of spores on a sample. That “pollen fingerprint” can not only determine origin, but also the travel history of an object. For example, while some pollens are heavy and travel far, others might be more easily blown off in transit. Or there might be higher quantities of some types. Or there might be a pollen unique to some area of the world at a particular time of year. The palynologists have to see the whole picture.

“We look at the entire pollen profile,” Laurence said. And he said it’s incredibly accurate for scientists who know what to look for. They can even look at what’s trapped in a vehicle’s air filter to trace back where that smuggler might have originated, allowing CBP to work with foreign law enforcement in their interdiction efforts. “It’s very accurate, because every point on the planet is unique. So, if you have the references to do that, you could get it down to someone’s backyard. It comes down to how much information we have.”

He said there are stacks of pollen atlases that specify which pollens are where in the world. These CBP experts must know and be able to access the information to track down the one out of millions of different pollen types – including hybrids and mutations – they could encounter.

“There’s no such thing as automation in palynology,” Laurence said. “Computers can’t do this.”

“We can get a lot of information as far as the whole chain of where something is produced and how it got here, and then do something about it,” he said, adding it’s just another bit of information the agency uses to stop the deadly drugs. “We are just one piece of the puzzle.”

Eyes in the Skies

Mike Linhares is an air interdiction agent – a pilot – from CBP’s Bellingham Air and Marine Branch in Washington state, a unit that patrols the Pacific Northwest coast. He said the tactics and techniques used in a normal air surveillance mission to give law enforcement on the ground an extra set of “eyes in the sky” are the same as any other mission, whether it’s watching criminal suspects or human smugglers. But with fentanyl, they step up their response game just a bit more.

“When those cases come in, and they are dealing with fentanyl, we certainly put a higher priority on them and make sure to maximize the assets we have available to support those cases,” he said, adding they use planes and helicopters, as well as ground-controlled drones for that surveillance mission. “We do our best to prioritize those tasks.”

The real-time surveillance by Air and Marine Operations gives operators on the ground a better picture of what might be going on hidden from their ground perspective but visible to the CBP assets in the air.

“Usually the [criminal] targets are doing things to make sure they’re not being followed,” Linhares said. “If we’re there, that provides some cushion for the agents on the ground.”

He added that having surveillance on the scene paints a more recent picture for the people on the ground because the latest intelligence could be a day or even a week old. Infrared cameras in the aircraft above also help them identify heat signatures and detect further threats.

Linhares said the emphasis on fentanyl has prompted even better working relationships between Air and Marine Operations and other CBP components, as well as other local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement partners. “It’s a constant education piece for us getting out there and communicating what assets and tools we have,” he said. “We’re always working to develop and cultivate those relationships with our law enforcement partners to protect the folks here in the United States.”

Protecting The Front Line

In addition to protecting the American public, CBP is also taking measures to protect its workforce who might come in contact with deadly fentanyl. Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gerardo Carrasco is a career Border Patrol agent and CBP’s operational medical advisor. He said that while protective measures – gloves, masks, training on safe handling techniques, and availability of Narcan – against fentanyl exposure have been a part of how officers and agents are trained and equipped, they’re still working to overcome some of the unknowns.

“We’re providing information, guidance, and education on fentanyl, the dangers associated with it, how to prevent contamination, and the use of personal protective equipment,” he said.

Those in the field are being given new resource cards – available physically and virtually over a secure intranet site – that outline the dos and don’ts of safe handling of the drugs. They’re also teaching those agents and officers what to do if there is an exposure, which happens less than most people think.

“Early on, there was a lot of panic regarding exposures. But very rarely was there evidence those were true exposures,” Carrasco said. “So that is something we’ve been fighting against from the very beginning.”

Shawn Carroll is CBP’s Office of Field Operations medical liaison. He said the fact that most finished fentanyl which shows up at a port of entry is mixed with some cutting agent reduces the real risk of a deadly exposure for those who might uncover something being smuggled in.

“If you get dusted with it – a package explodes and you get dusted in the face – will you have some effect? Absolutely. Could it slow your breathing and cause you to be drowsy? Absolutely. Is it going to kill you? No, it’s not going to kill you,” Carroll said. “But you will need some medical care.”

That’s why the training – not just for field officers and agents but even office workers – on how to care for someone after a possible exposure is so important. New videos are also being made to educate the workforce.

Carrasco pointed out basic lifesaving skills also being taught are good for a number of threats, inside and outside of the CBP workplace.

“It’s more than a one trick pony. I can use those skills for car accidents or shootings or cardiac events, in so many situations, in addition to narcotic overdose,” he said.

Another important tool used by CBP are the handheld chemical analyzers to examine samples in the field to give preliminary results. Handheld analyzers use laser and infrared technologies to identify presumptively unknown materials.

“The technology uses a laser, which can be used directly through clear packaging, so you don’t have to open up the sample,” said Natalie Underwood, a chemist with CBP’s Laboratories and Scientific Services INTERDICT Science Center, a centralized facility in the Washington, D.C., area that provides scientific support.

The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy part of the scanner involves infrared light that compliments laser analysis in cases where dark samples or samples that fluoresce light and interfere with the laser’s operation. Add in immunoassay test strips specific to fentanyl and fentanyl analogues that agents and officers have to use, and you get multiple ways to identify presumptively a sample. That is especially important when samples are mixed heavily with cutting agent.

“It’s really like a toolbox,” Underwood said. “So, there are multiple tools that officers have access to.”

Using CBP’s narcotics reach back capabilities, CBP officers and agents send field-collected data for adjudication of “No Match Found” or uncertain results. Within an hour, the officer or agent has a response. In fiscal year 2023, the reach back capability reviewed approximately 70,000 scans. Nearly 350 scans indicated the presence of fentanyl or fentanyl analogues. During that same time, approximately 1,000 forensic samples analyzed by the forward operating laboratories identified the presence of fentanyl or fentanyl analogues, and another 1,400-plus cases analyzed by CBP’s eight regional laboratories confirmed the drug or its analogues.

Underwood went on to explain that once a presumptive positive test result comes back from a handheld analyzer or narcotic field test kit, laboratories such as hers and the seven other permanent laboratories can use specialized instrumentation to confirm presumptive identifications, which is especially important for eventual prosecution of the smugglers. In addition, these identifications confirming the officers’ and agents’ presumptive findings, give them more confidence in the handheld analyzers or narcotic field test kits.

“We want to get officers in the rhythm of using these devices along with the other tools they have,” Underwood said.

CBP officers in the field like having that presumptive test result in their hands, to have an indication of what they are handling, and in turn, to help them to know how to protect themselves, although they already take significant measures before anything is analyzed.

“To the naked eye, especially with hard narcotics, we can assume or presume what it is, but there’s no way to confirm what it is without applying a formal process to verify what it is,” said Watch Commander Robert Pagan from the San Diego area. “The scanners allow us to use technology where we can sample that actual substance that’s been concealed within a vehicle, concealed within packaging such as cellophane or shrink wrap or duct tape, to evade inspection.”

That confirmation is vital when prosecution is applied later. In addition, officers and agents know what to do as far as protecting themselves from harmful drugs, such as fentanyl, which can kill with a dosage as small as 2 milligrams. Pagan is responsible directly for about 100 men and women and another 500-600 not directly under his control. It’s important to him and all supervisors to ensure the safety of those under their watch.

“This enhances our ability to test these controlled substances in a much safer fashion,” he said. “It’s a safer practice when testing these substances, as opposed to using a traditional field test kit,” which requires the package to be opened, potentially exposing those in the vicinity to include CBP officers and innocent bystanders; the scanner builds distance and layers into the process.

Pagan characterized the handheld scanners as highly dependable, and his people find them invaluable.

“Our personnel are an investment,” he said. “The only way we succeed in our agency is when we invest in our employees, and part of that investment is keeping them safe.”

Ramirez added having these handheld scanners in the field raises the safety level when the stakes are so high and the drug is so dangerous.

“The threat is real. We’re seeing it on a daily basis down here on the streets,” he said. “The handheld scanners are making our job a lot easier, safer, which is the most important thing. I want to lead the team to a successful day, but everyone goes home at the end of the day. Safety is paramount.”

An Updated Strategy

While the surge operations were successful, CBP operators and leadership recognized the need for a steady state of fighting this continuing threat of fentanyl and its analogues. CBP leadership established a special working group to renew and realign efforts into a new, all-encompassing strategy. The group brought together experts from the uniformed components as well as CBP subject matter experts from international relations, laboratories, budget, and communications, among others. They put together a new plan to replace the opioid strategy which launched in 2018 and was retired in 2021 after meeting its goal to improve detection and identification capabilities as well as safety measures with a new emphasis on deadly fentanyl.

“We began by aligning whole-of-CBP efforts against a shared priority. These efforts focused on workforce and community safety, domestic and international partnerships, and targeting the fentanyl supply chain,” said Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Alfredo Lozano, the group’s leader. “We borrowed from the original four goals of the opioid strategy of 2018 focused on safety and created new goals to enhance operations against those engaged in the production, trafficking and distribution of fentanyl.””

The new counter fentanyl strategy reorganizes how CBP deals with the deadly drug, including mandating continuous operations against the smuggling of fentanyl, its analogues, precursors, and equipment to manufacture it. The strategy will replace past CBP surge operations. The agency has formed a new business model to make cooperation and information sharing between CBP divisions easier and reformed how the agency interacts with other federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement entities from seizure to prosecution. Draganac is the new single line-of-effort director for the counter fentanyl operations.

“I think this is a threat that will continue,” he said. “Our strategy and the foundation we build now is something that we use to build a sustainable organizational structure to respond.”

And Draganac added the development of this new approach while CBP is also tackling key mission areas, such as border security, is evidence of how well it is positioned to take on a changing problem such as fentanyl.

“People need to understand how quickly this agency pivots to emerging threats,” he said.

Renewed Vigilance Against a Deadly Threat

There are nearly 3,000 spider species in North America alone, making identifying a common house spider difficult. Is it just a harmless little guy? Or a venomous predator waiting to pounce? More likely than not, the critter weaving a web on your ceiling is the former, but there’s nothing wrong with knowing the difference for your own peace of mind.

Meet the Experts: Emma Grace Crumbley, entomologist for Mosquito Squad; Roberto M. Pereira, Ph.D., entomologist and insect research scientist with the University of Florida; Marc Potzler, a board-certified entomologist and technical services manager with Ehrlich Pest Control; Howard Russell, an entomologist at Michigan State University.

Although they are rare, spider bites can happen. And even a nibble from a house spider can leave an uncomfortable welt. Here are some of the most common house spiders you might see in or outside of your abode, how to identify them, and whether you should worry about becoming their next meal. (Spoiler alert: The arachnids are more heroic than you might expect. So read before fully committing to repellents, traps, and extermination.)