Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell says a special drug overdose medication may have saved the life of a jail inmate on Saturday.

The sheriff said that around 8 p.m. on Saturday the Wyoming Highway Patrol brought a man arrested at a crash scene into the Sweetwater County Detention Center. Lowell says the man began to show signs of a drug overdose, including shaking, trembling, difficulty breathing, heavy sweating and foaming at the mouth.

A nurse at the jail gave the man Narcan [naloxone], a drug which helps counter the effects of an opioid overdose, including breathing problems. The man was rushed to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, where he was treated and released.

According to the federal government, over 64,000 across the country died from opioid and opiate overdoses. Sweetwater County has recorded nearly 30 overdose deaths from all drugs since 2014, according to Sheriff Lowell.

He says all Sheriff's Office detectives, deputies and detention officers now carry doses of Narcan for emergency use. The Sheriff's Office Narcan nasal spray units were purchased through a special grant program funded through the Wyoming Department of Health.

More From K2 Radio