Apr 21, 2016 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – The Greene County Prison Board is considering whether it should keep a small supply of Narcan – the nasal spray that reverses the affects during a heroin overdose – at the county jail.

The board voted unanimously Thursday to direct jail Warden Harry Gillispie to prepare a report on whether the county should purchase the drug and keep it with other medical supplies at the jail in the event of an overdose.

The board could approve the purchase of at least two doses of Narcan for the jail as soon as its next meeting May 19 at 11:45 a.m. in the county office building.

The recommendation came from Carole Rusnak of Cost Management Plus Inc., a nursing consultant whose organization provides cost analysis and information to counties about the medical care provided at their jails.

She said Narcan was supplied at other county jails in the state since November, although she did not know how many.

Rusnak said the recommendation is not over concerns about inmates using drugs while incarcerated.

“If you have someone overdosing in your jail, then you’ve got another problem you’re dealing with,” she said. “Once in a while, you have inmates who hoard (drugs) and put them anywhere.”

Instead, she pointed to an example at an undisclosed jail in the state in which a man ingested 30 stamp bags of heroin before being arrested and brought to the jail. He was taken to the hospital, she said, but doctors were fearful an operation might rupture the stamp bags and declined to operate.

That left the jail in a difficult situation about what to do if the stamp bag ruptured before they were passed.

“It is more of a precautionary decision and releases liability from the county,” Rusnak said of stocking Narcan, which does not expire for two years. “It’s becoming a standard of treatment. It’s becoming more prominent.”

Gillispie said if a person is brought to the jail and appears to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol – or suffering from a medical condition – they first will be transported to a local hospital for treatment before being processed and brought into the population. Gillispie said after the meeting there has never been an overdose at the jail during his 20 years as warden.

He said he could not comment on the issue until after he provides his report to the prison board.

Rusnak said a 10-pack of Narcan typically costs about $400 when governments purchase them through bulk providers. The prison board members said they most likely would buy the supply through their local prescription provider. Prison staff would be trained on how to administer the drug.

Blair Zimmerman, a county commissioner and member of the prison board, said he is in favor of the proposal, but wants to read Gillispie’s report before making a final decision.

“It’s a safety net, if anything, if you do have a situation,” Zimmerman said. “There’s also some contraband that can get in. If something were to happen, we can’t rule anything out in that situation.”