Hennepin Co. Sheriff's Office launches free online Narcan training

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Two organizations in the Twin Cities metro are offering Narcan training classes online in order to help save lives. 

Drug overdose deaths have once again skyrocketed in the Twin Cities metro area. Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson says 285 people died from drugs last year, much of it from street drugs laced with synthetics such as fentanyl.

As more people die from opioids, Sheriff Hutchinson's office is now launching free Narcan training classes online. The drug, if administered in time, can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

"One life saved is an accomplishment to me," said Hutchinson. "But if we can have a hundred lives saved, if we can get people off these terrible drugs and get them on the right track, my office, my staff, and the community should really relish the fact that we’re trying to help as best we can."

The sheriff’s office has been training deputies to use a nasal spray version of Narcan. Whether by nasal spray or syringe injection, most victims will recover in seconds. That’s why they want to teach everyone how to use Narcan.

The sheriff’s office will conduct the free classes live on Zoom. The next class is Tuesday, May 11 at 5 p.m. Anyone can sign up by emailing the sheriff’s office at drugdisposal@hennepin.us.

Upon completing the class, deputies will send participants their own Narcan kit. 

It’s not the only Zoom class in the metro, the Steve Rummler Hope Network also leads a live class on the second Wednesday of every month. They too will send out a Narcan kit to all who complete the course.

"Now they actually have a QR code embedded into it, so that if I can’t facilitate a training or someone else that does training to facilitate that, you can just go to our website and we have a training module 610 that they are able to receive that same training through our video," said Almarely Guerrero Sanchez of the Steve Rummler Hope Network.