Sheriff’s Office will now carry Narcan to address opioid overdoses

MENDOCINO CO., 4/24/19 — Over the last decade, as the opiod epidemic has increased, public health and law enforcement officials have increasingly encouraged the use of Narcan (naloxone), a drug which can treat an opioid overdose. Mendocino County ranks third in the state in opioid overdoses, with 19.3 deaths per 100,000 people, more than three times the state average and worse than anywhere but Humboldt and Modoc counties, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Today, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office announced that they will provide Narcan as a nasal spray for field officers and jail medical staff in an attempt to reduce the rate of fatal opioid overdoses in the county.

The Mendocino’s rate of opioid related deaths has decreased precipitously since 2016, following a statewide trend, but the county remains at the near top of the state in deaths by population, according to the most recent available 2017 data. Over 88,000 prescriptions for opioids were issued within the county that year, at a rate of 806 prescriptions for every 1,000 residents. The county has remained in the top ten states of opioid death by population for the last several years data is available. Mendocino County Sheriff’s field officers and medical staff in Mendocino County jail will now carry the naloxone nasal spray, so that they can better respond when encountering someone having an opioid overdose.