Public safety alert on Narcan

BARRON - The Barron County Sheriff's Department wants to make the public aware of a recent law enforcement use of Narcan.

Over the past 24 hours, Barron County law enforcement has given Narcan to three different subjects who were not fully responsive in public settings in separate areas across the county. Narcan is a life-saving medication that reverses a drug overdose. This is not a common occurrence of law enforcement in the county, especially three times in 24 hours.

The Sheriff's Department wants to make the public aware of this for two reasons while they continue to look into this:

If you see someone who looks like they're sleeping in public, call 911. Law enforcement needs to check on them.

There might be a bad batch of drugs in the county right now.

"We don't want anyone using drugs, but we really don't want people dying from them," said Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald. "If you need help, call Barron County Human Services at 715.537.5691."

If you are a person who uses drugs, or if you are a friend, family member or partner of someone who may be at high risk for an opioid overdose, Narcan is available for free at local public health offices. Narcan can also be discreetly mailed at no cost. For more information on that, visit nextdistro.org/wisconsin.

"We post this information to keep our community safe and make people aware of possible issues," said Fitzgerald.