Jefferson County one-year-old resuscitated after accidental drug overdose
Jefferson County AL October 28 2021 A 1-year-old Fairfield girl nearly died from a fentanyl overdose but was quickly revived by a Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy who was armed with an anecdote.
Deputies were dispatched at 2:36 p.m. Monday to a 911 call from a woman who was screaming that a child had overdosed.
When lawmen arrived at a residence in the 6400 block of Avenue D, they found the girl unresponsive on the floor. Witnesses told them that the child had ingested some illegal drugs, possibly fentanyl, and that she had been unresponsive for about 30 minutes.
Deputy Jordan Agee, 27, said the call came in at the start of the shift. “When we entered the residence, we saw the 1-year-old unresponsive on the floor, surrounded by family,’’ he said.
“When I first saw her, the only thing that was in my mind and everybody else’s mind was just preserve life,’’ he said. “At that point we were willing to do anything to keep her alive and get her back breathing.”
Deputies began to try to resuscitate the child using the Narcan nasal spray. Moments later, the child began to breathe slowly.
“As soon as she started breathing, I was immediately happy,’’ Agee said. “I was grateful that we had Narcan. I was grateful for all the deputies and sergeants that came and assisted, I was grateful for Fairfield Fire and Rescue to be there, I was grateful for Shoals (Ambulance) to get there so quickly, I was just grateful for everything.”
She was taken to Children’s of Alabama where she is reported to be in stable condition.
The child’s mother, 31-year-old Jeanette Lashay Bell, admitted that the child had accessed some of her drug paraphernalia and ingested it by putting it in her mouth, authorities said.
Bell is charged with chemical endangerment of child. She was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 6:06 p.m. Monday and remains held on $15,000 bond.
The Department of Human Resources has been brought in to check on other children in the home.
It wasn’t Agee’s first time to administer Narcan. “I’ve had times when it was successful and I’ve had times when it wasn’t,’’ he said. “This was just one of those good days.”
He said he’s thankful to be able to carry Narcan. “We go to a lot of scenes where there are overdoses and we find people unresponsive and Narcan does the trick a good bit of times,’’ he said. “I’m grateful we have that tool on our belt.”
