Five inmates at Hiland Mountain Correctional overdose on opioids

ANCHORAGE — Five women housed at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center (HMCC) are in stable condition after overdosing during a 24-hour period earlier this week.

According to a news release, in all five cases, HMCC nurses and corrections officers began performing lifesaving measures while they waited for the arrival of emergency medical responders. In four out of five of the incidents, medical responders administered Narcan, an FDA-approved drug capable of reversing an opioid drug overdose.

Four women were transported to a local hospital for further treatment, but all had been revived and were responsive when they left HMCC.

“Alaska is in the midst of a terrible opioid epidemic and our prisons are not immune to that,” Commissioner Dean Williams said. “Our staff sees the effects of this epidemic on a regular basis and I could not be prouder of the way they handled the series of overdoses at Hiland Mountain. Their efforts are truly heroic.”

DOC is continuing to expand efforts to fight the opioid epidemic inside and outside of the walls of prisons. DOC now has relationships with law enforcement agencies across the state to better

collaborate on these efforts. Furthermore, DOC now has emergency Narcan kits in institutions and probation offices, and is providing training to staff to use those Narcan kits.

The Alaska Department of Corrections’ (DOC) professional conduct unit (PCU) is investigating.