Benton, AR – The Saline County Sheriff’s Office has received Naloxone (Narcan) overdose kits through a grant funded by the Arkansas State Drug Director’s Office, the University of Arkansas System Criminal Justice Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The grant provides the kits, which include two doses of Narcan, a bio-hazard face mask and other first aid items, to all deputies at the Sheriff’s Office in order to help fight the current opioid overdose epidemic.  The deputies, including jail staff, will carry the kits at all times in order to be ready to respond to any emergency involving a potential overdose.

Saline County Sheriff Rodney Wright, speaking with Drug Director Kirk Lane, commented “We cannot overstate the importance of this Narcan partnership in Saline County.  Having the overdose kits in the hands of first responder saves valuable minutes in a crisis and has the potential to save countless lives.”  He went on to say “we have already seen about a half dozen lives saved by our office alone in the past year.  Thanks to the grant we have been given, we can continue to have that meaningful impact on our community.”

For more information regarding the opioid epidemic in Arkansas, visit the Arkansas Take Back website at https://www.artakeback.org/.