NASSAU COUNTY, FLORIDA, Fla. — A Nassau County inmate is alive thanks to the life-saving measures taken by deputies during a fentanyl overdose.
"She had blue lips and her eyes were very dilated, or not dilated, very, very tight pupils, which is like the stereotypical signs of a fentanyl overdose," Sgt. Travis Fornshell said.
On Jan. 4, Nassau County Sheriff's Office deputies were transporting an inmate from the St. Johns County Jail to the Nassau County Jail.
Sgt. Travis Fornshell says sometime during the drive, the inmate used, and started showing signs of an overdose after arriving at the jail.
"She started going unconscious up against the wall sally port here behind me. We laid her on the ground, and it was only a few seconds after she was laid on the ground that we could no longer feel her pulse, her breathing had stopped," Fornshell said.
Fornshell says he administered Narcan while Sgt. Hires performed CPR until the inmate became conscious. She was taken to the hospital and is okay.
"It feels good being able to save somebody's life, just with the training that the sheriff's office provides them giving us the proper equipment to be able to save someone's life," Fornshell said.
Fornshell says video inside the transport van shows the inmate taking something out of her shoe.
"We found a small ball of aluminum foil that field tested positive for fentanyl," Fornshell said.
Fornshell says the drugs likely came from inside the St. Johns County Jail and the inmate should have been searched prior to transport but says because it was a male deputy picking up the female inmate for transport he is not able to conduct the proper searches in a non-emergency situation.
The inmate is out of the hospital and is currently housed inside the Nassau County Jail.