SUNBURY—The Snyder County Sheriff’s office is taking proactive steps to combat the drug epidemic in The Valley. Snyder County Sheriff, John Zechman was recently on WKOK’s On the Mark to talk about the actions his office has taken to save lives in opioid overdose cases.
He said, “ Last year, I had all my deputies trained and certified to carry and administer Naloxone which is more commonly known as Narcan, and what that is a reversing agent for someone who is experiencing opioid overdose. That’s a medication that we can administer prior to the EMS arrival to reverse the effects of the opioid overdose.”
The Sheriff’s office also recently purchased their first K-9 unit. Zechman said, “In June of last year we launched a campaign to raise funds for the first ever Snyder County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit. We raised about $50,000 to get this program off the ground. Currently, a dog is at a facility being trained as we speak. They will train it out there for about six weeks, and we expect to have this canine in service by this April.”
The dog will be trained in not only narcotics detection, but also human tracking. You can listen to the full interview with Sheriff Zechman on wkok.com. (Sarah Benek)
