Tazewell County Deputies are all now carrying Narcan Nasal Spray to counteract opioid overdoses.
The Narcan training was rolled in with other mandated professional development topics the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Department has been tackling since the end of last month.
Chief Deputy Jeff Lower says the agency also has placed Narcan with its detectives, in the jail where someone still might need it and the evidence room, “with the stronger drugs like Fentanyl and Carfentanil you can actually inhale that and overdose just from the fumes. So we want to be able to protect the deputies and be able to respond that if it ever does happen.”
Lower says the Tazewell County Sheriff Department did five full-day training sessions to get all its sworn officers through the required topics.
Some of the other training areas included CPR and AED Certification, blood bourne pathogen training and a hazardous material refresher.
The Tazewell County Sheriff’s Department is also working to get the agency and all the county buildings outfitted with AEDs. Advanced Medical Transport has provided the department with six.
AMT also delivered six AEDs Thursday to the Peoria Public Library main branch and provided training for the staff. Those AEDs are being placed in all the Peoria Public Libraries.