Santa Maria, Calif. – Sheriff’s Office staff have partnered with Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) to provide naloxone training to inmates, beginning with the Northern Branch Jail. On Monday, December 12, 2022, over 90 inmates were trained by PPF on recognizing signs of an overdose as well as how and when to correctly administer naloxone. Sheriff’s Office staff also educated inmates on California’s 911 Good Samaritan law. The goal of this training is to increase awareness of the dangers of opioids and opioid overdose, increase lifesaving overdose intervention and decrease overdose deaths, both in our custody facilities as well as in our communities.

Sheriff Brown said, “Overdoses from fentanyl and other opioids kill far too many people in our communities. 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.”

Naloxone is a potentially lifesaving medication designed to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Opioid overdose can be due to many factors including deliberate misuses of a prescription, illicit opioid use (such as heroin), or use of an opioid contaminated with other even more potent opioids (such as fentanyl). Overdose can also occur when a patient takes an opioid as directed but for which the prescriber miscalculated the opioid dose, when an error was made by the dispensing pharmacist, or when the patient misunderstood the directions for use. In each of these scenarios, it is vital to recognize and be prepared for a possible life-threatening opioid overdose emergency. The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public that our community partners at Pacific Pride Foundation offer FREE naloxone at their syringe exchange program, and at their Santa Barbara and Santa Maria offices. Please visit PPF’s website- PacificPrideFoundation.org for more information about Naloxone distribution and overdose prevention.

The Sheriff’s Office would also like to remind the public that a person who is experiencing an opioid overdose needs immediate medical attention. An essential first step is to get help from someone with medical expertise as quickly as possible. Therefore, members of the public are encouraged to call 911 when they suspect an overdose is occurring. California’s 911 Good Samaritan law, AB 472, provides limited protection from arrest, charge and prosecution for people who seek emergency medical assistance at the scene of a suspected drug overdose.