GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Wisconsin Department of Health Services funds more than 50 public health vending machines across the state.
One of those, inside the Grand Chute Town Hall, was installed in March.
“We have vended 109 boxes of Narcan — which each box contains two doses, so that’s 218 doses of Narcan that have been vended out of our vending machine,” said Dylan Davis, community resource officer with the Grand Chute Police Department.
The vending machine includes Narcan, fentanyl test kits and gun locks.
Officer Davis said before the machine was introduced, officers were administering Narcan several times a month.
“In the time since our vending machine has been installed, we have only administered two doses of Narcan since March 27,” he said.
Grand Chute Town Hall isn’t the only place where you can find a public health vending machine in the Fox Valley. There is also one available at the Outagamie County Courthouse, and there were two unveiled in Winnebago County Friday.
Click here to view an interactive map of vending machine locations around Wisconsin
“We’re hoping that this is another tool for people to have in their bucket for overdose prevention and materials,” said Maddie Breager, community health strategist with the Winnebago County Health Department. “We can’t save lives without having the tools available, so increasing Narcan saturation is getting it in the hands of people who need it the most.”
Outagamie County Community Health Educator Cassy Stefl said their goal is the same.
“Anybody can kind of have that barrier of maybe needing to ask for help, or calling someone or whatever that it is, that they can come, contact free, and get whatever they might need to help them in any way that they might need it,” Stefl said.
Amber Van Grinsven is the Peer Recovery Program supervisor with Apricity, an organization that provides those impacted by substance use disorders a full spectrum of care, including treatment, employment and support services in a safe recovery community.
Van Grinsven told FOX 11 the vending machines are a great addition to the community.
“It’s just a way to kind of end the stigma. If people are going to use, they’re going to use anyway, so we should help them do it safely,” she explained. “Until they can get into the appropriate treatment programs and get the recovery that they need.”
Officer Davis says the free Narcan is a step towards recovery.
“A lot of our Narcan boxes have cards in them to let the users, or whoever grabs that Narcan, know that hey, there are some resources out there to help connect you,” he told us.
In Brown County, there are 13 vending machines. 24 are located in Winnebago County and eight in Outagamie County.
Anyone who is struggling with addition is urged to call 211 to get information on treatment and recovery resources, or head to the Wisconsin Addiction Recovery Helpline website.
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