[ad_1]
Milwaukee — Milwaukee County will see more than 5,000 overdoses in 2022, nearly 500 of which were fatal, according to the city’s overdose dashboard.
As such, the Greenfield Health Authority is working to expand access to Nalkan in the region. It’s part of an ongoing initiative to save lives amid local and national overdose epidemics.
The department recently added Milwaukee County’s first Narkan vending machine to the lobby of the Greenfield Police Department. This is his one of two pilot programs in Wisconsin.
Vending machines have free Narcan kits and fentanyl test strips. Anyone who needs these resources can enter the building without question.
“We support them wherever they are in their journey and make sure they have the tools they need to be as safe as possible,” said public health expert Lindsay Fass said.
It is also an effort to reduce barriers to access to harm reduction tools, promote portability of Narcan and fentanyl test strips, and reduce stigma around substance abuse reduction efforts.
Maggie Sutton is a case manager for the Greenfield Fire Department. She said the area needs this vending machine.
“We’ve seen Narcan, fentanyl test strips, and our information packets popping out of this machine,” Sutton said.
In 2020, there were a total of 70 suspected opioid-related overdoses in Greenfield. In 2021, there will be a total of 103 suspected opioid-related overdoses.
“We want residents to have access to Narkan as well as Harm Reduction materials whenever they need them,” said Sutton.
Fass said everyone should be welcome to access these resources and get what they need from vending machines.
The Greenfield Health Department is Narcan’s direct program site. Narcan is free from Wisconsin.
For more information on the program or vending machines, email safegreenfield@greenfieldwi.us or call (414) 329-5275.
[ad_2]
Source link
