Sheriff’s Office Begins Narcan Training For Oneida County…

Sheriff’s Office Begins Narcan Training For Oneida County Jail Inmates

Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol announced that a voluntary Narcan (Naloxone) training program for inmates within the Oneida County Jail began yesterday and will continue until all inmates that signed up are certified. Nearly 20 male and female inmates have been certified so far. Naloxone is an emergency medicine that can stop an Opioid overdose, which in turn will save lives. In addition to receiving training on what Naloxone is and how to properly administer it, the inmates also receive training on opioid overdose prevention.

Each inmate that successfully completes the training will receive a Certificate of Completion that is valid for two years and they will each receive a complete Opioid Overdose Rescue Kit that will be placed in to their personal property so that they will have it with them when they transition back into the community upon their release from jail. This training, and the rescue kits, are made possible through the funding and partnership between the Sheriff’s Office, the Oneida County Department of Mental Health, and the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.

“As we continue to deal with the Opioid crisis and we continue to see both non-fatal and fatal overdoses occurring, we have to think outside of the box on ways to save lives. One quick and inexpensive way is to insure that there are as many people trained and equipped with Narcan out in the community, and with this program, we are doing just that”, according to Sheriff Maciol.

This Narcan training program is the first in a series that will be offered to all of the inmates on a voluntary basis. The next program that will be made available to the inmates will be CPR training, which is planned for early spring.