The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is launching a new initiative to help ensure first responders have the best information available on calls involving people who might need special assistance.

The Sheriff's Office is offering stickers that can be placed on a vehicle window or house or apartment door to alert officers, firefighters or medical personnel responding to calls. The stickers say that an occupant may have dementia, Alzheimer's disease, autism or another disability or be hearing-impaired.

"When emergency services are called, it's almost always a stressful situation," said Sheriff David Hutchinson, who created the program. "Everyone being attended to by emergency responders deserves compassionate and informed care. That begins with understanding. These stickers are a simple and effective way to inform first responders of critical information, which leads to better results for all parties."

The stickers are available to anyone who requests them. Stacks of stickers have been delivered to law enforcement agencies and the Hennepin County Association of Paramedics and EMTs, said sheriff's spokesman Jeremy Zoss.

A woman requested 150 of each of the four stickers for distribution on her own, said Zoss. Another person asked for stickers to give out at her nursing home.

Stickers are available at the sheriff's public safety services division in Brooklyn Park or water patrol headquarters in Spring Park. They are available online at forms.office.com/g/xUN84kS0yt.

Opioid-awareness program

Hutchinson is also expanding his office's opioid awareness online program to include an in-person component. With opioid-related deaths hitting record numbers in the last two years, the sheriff wanted the issue to continue to receive attention during the pandemic, said Zoss. The program is for friends, family and loved ones of people with opioid addiction.

An hourlong class, started in January, covers topics like the history of opioids, the dangers of the drugs and statistics about opioid use in the state. The class also teaches attendees how to identify a person experiencing an overdose and provides training to properly administer naloxone, an emergency medication treatment to reverse an overdose.

Participants hear personal stories from people affected by opioid use, such as a mother who lost her son after he ingested fentanyl that he believed to be another drug, said Zoss. Naloxone doses are given out after the class is completed, he said.

More than 200 people have taken the class, which is funded by a grant from the state Department of Health. The Sheriff's Office hasn't received any negative feedback about giving participants naloxone, said Zoss. Residents who live outside Hennepin County can take the class.

No other state law enforcement agencies offer a similar class, he said. State law allows anyone at risk for having or witnessing a drug overdose to obtain a prescription for naloxone, he said.

People interested in joining an opioid class can send an e-mail to drugdisposal@hennepin.us. The next class is Sept. 13 at the sheriff's emergency communications center in Plymouth.