An inmate at the George Bailey Detention Facility in Otay Mesa used the anti-overdose medication Naloxone to help a fellow inmate, the sheriff's department reported Wednesday.
The inmate overdosed last Thursday and was given two doses of the medication by a fellow inmate, which was accessible through a Naloxone box within the detention facility's housing unit, the sheriff's department said.
The unconscious man was still unresponsive when sheriff's deputies arrived, so they gave him eight more doses of the medication. The drug is meant to reverse and block the effect of opioids or narcotics so a person can breathe.
After the additional doses, the inmate revived, the department said.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
Top San Diego County Stories
The inmate was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. SDSO said he was back in custody as of Thursday. The name of the inmate was not released and it was not made clear what the inmate overdosed on.
This was the eighth time an inmate has administered Naloxone since it was made available in common areas of county jail housing units in June, according to the department. By accessing the Naloxone box, an alarm is set off, alerting deputies to a possible overdose.
Those being booked into jail watch an instructional video on administering the medication. Jail deputies have used Naloxone over 500 times in suspected overdose cases since June 2020, according to the sheriff's department.
Released inmates at risk for opioid overdose are given access to free Naloxone and may be connected to treatment programs, according to the department.
The sheriff's department has received heavy criticism in recent years over the number of overdose-related deaths in its jails. Along with Naloxone, the department has taken other steps to attempt to reduce overdoses having illegal drugs come into the jails including using body scanners and drug-sniffing dogs.
Thursday, in response to the sheriff department’s press release, Paul Parker with the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board said:
“I’m feeling very happy to say that the sheriff’s department has administered or implemented a program in which naloxone is accessible for an incarcerated person.”
Parker has suggested to SDSO, to include staff in the body scans. SDSO is considering it but has not made a decision.
“We don’t know how else it could be getting in and we’ve recommended they expand the scanning of maybe their staff. Use fentanyl dogs to scan their staff or anyone. I’m not saying the staff is doing anything. But anyone that enters the facility,” said Parker.
