VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – Multiple people at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center were exposed to fentanyl Sunday morning, including two inmates and two sheriff’s deputies, according to Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Rocky Holcomb.
“What I can speak on are the heroes in the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Department that rushed in and saved this person’s life,” Holcomb told 10 On Your Side Monday afternoon, “knowing that their own life could’ve been in peril with the exposure to fentanyl, but they continued and continued and they saved this person’s life.”
Holcomb said he could not get more specifics with details.
The sheriff’s office has been investigating a narcotic exposure at the correctional center, with deputies responding to an unconscious inmate in one of the female housing units around 8:30 a.m.
Deputies began CPR and, with the help of the jail’s medical staff, administered oxygen and Narcan.
About 30 minutes later, another woman started to show symptoms of an opioid overdose and also received Narcan.
Both women were taken to Sentara Princess Anne Hospital for treatment and have returned to the Virginia Beach Correctional Center.
During those incidents, two deputy sheriffs were exposed to the substance and received medical treatment. They have been released and are recovering.
The sheriff’s office began using Narcan at the correctional center five years ago and staff received training on how to use it. It is now looking for money to buy a fentanyl-detecting K-9.
Following the incident, the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office said they thoroughly searched and disinfected the female housing units to ensure they are safe for both inmates and staff. The sheriff’s office said all on-site inmate visitation was canceled Sunday due to the exposure investigation.
The suspected opioid substance is being tested by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. The investigation continues as to how the substance got into the jail.
“We think, we suspect that it was secreted in by an inmate,” Holcomb said. “It was hidden in the body cavity somewhere, we suspect, but the investigation, it’ll bring all that out.”
