FARGO, N.D. (AP) - U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recognized four tribal officers from North Dakota for applying emergency treatment to people who had overdosed on synthetic opioids.
Zinke was in Fargo Thursday to present the Secretary’s Commendation Award to Turtle Mountain Agency officers Stacey Larocque and Michael Slater and Standing Rock Agency officers Wayland Bad Hand and Gary Sandland.
Zinke said after the ceremony that some of the officers performed CPR and all of them administered the overdose antidote naloxone, commonly referred to as Narcan. He said they saved lives.
Zinke said there is a high ratio of overdoses on tribal lands and many dealers come from off the reservation and prey on young people. He added that the administration is “not going to tolerate selling drugs and opioids in Indian Country.”
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