Sheriff’s Office partners with Pacific Pride for inmate Naloxone training

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Staff members with Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) trained more than 90 inmates in the Northern Branch Jail on how to administer Naloxone, an anti-overdose medication. (Narcan is the brand commonly used.)

The goal of Monday's session was to increase awareness about the dangers of opioids and opioid overdoses and at the same time, equip the inmates with lifesaving measures. The hope is, inmates will utilize their training -- if necessary -- both in custody facilities and in the community.

The Naloxone training comes roughly seven months after Sheriff Bill Brown and the Sheriff's Office launched Project Opioid Santa Barbara County.

“Overdoses from fentanyl and other opioids kill far too many people in our communities," said Sheriff Brown in an official News Release. "It is important that everyone knows how to recognize when an overdose has occurred and know how to use naloxone to save a life. We in the Sheriff’s Office are proud to partner with Pacific Pride Foundation to provide this awareness and training to our county jail inmates.”

Sheriff Brown and local leaders are well aware that opioid overdoses can be linked to many factors including misuse of prescription drugs, illegal drugs, accidentally ingesting a mislabeled medication and experimentation.

The inmates were also educated on California's 911 Good Samaritan law, AB 472. The law provides limited protections for people who seek emergency medical assistance at the scene of a suspected overdose.