PORT ANGELES – Three inmates in the Clallam County jail survived drug overdoses this weekend.
Sunday, jail staff were notified of an emergency in one of the female dorm tanks. An inmate pressed a newly-installed emergency panic alarm in the cell to notify the Control Room Technician that there was an unconscious and unresponsive female. Corrections deputies and the jail nurse found a 21-year-old female lying on the ground, with a 37-year-old cellmate kneeling over her trying to assist. After deputies instructed the 37-year-old to step back, she collapsed and became unresponsive. The nurse and deputies began administering NARCAN to the two unresponsive females.
During the response, a corrections deputy noticed a third female inmate had returned to her bunk and began to display similar signs of an opioid overdose. She soon became non-responsive and was administered NARCAN.
Staff say after multiple doses of NARCAN, the jail nurse couldn’t detect a pulse on either of the first two inmates. Staff started CPR and both inmates regained consciousness. All three inmates were transported to Olympic Medical Center for treatment and returned to the Clallam County Corrections Facility later the same day.
Detectives from the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) responded to investigate the introduction of fentanyl into the facility.