First public health vending machine unveiled in Outagamie County
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WFRV) – The first public health vending machine in Outagamie County was unveiled Wednesday. The initiative was spurred primarily due to opioid overdose deaths, which the county saw 95 from 2019-22.
“Almost every single death has fentanyl in it. It’s, in the majority of the deaths that we see, causing these fatalities,” Outagamie County Public Health community health educator Cassy Stefl said. “So having Narcan available to the public for free will hopefully make a huge difference.”
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The vending machines contain Narcan and fentanyl testing strips, gun locks, and hygiene products, among other areas that officials see a need for in the community. All items are free, and the benefit of them being dispensed via vending machines is that they are anonymous, removing any possible stigma for getting help.
One vending machine is at the Outagamie County Public Health building, and the other is at the Grand Chute Police Department. Officials say that providing overdose prevention supplies for free will not enable drug abuse habits, but it will give people with an addiction a second chance if they are saved from an overdose.
“[Drug users] aren’t looking if there’s Narcan available to make decisions on drug use,” Capt. David Maas of the Grand Chute Police Department said. “They’re physically addicted to the substance and can’t turn the addiction off at will.”
Appleton’s Genesis Club provides resources for recovering people with an addiction, and vice president Amber Van Grinsven says that people with an addiction cannot get a second chance in life if they die from an overdose.
“We see they’re not repeatedly returning to the ERs,” she said. Without the vending machines, obtaining Narcan “is a process that doesn’t help in emergencies and crises.”
She would know, having had to administer it once to a friend.
“I was able to think quickly and react, and I had to give him two or three syringes of Narcan, and it was terrifying,” she said. “And if I didn’t have the Narcan there, I would have no idea.”
Van Grinsven had the Narcan because she was in a dark place, dealing with drug abuse. Now, she carries it in case someone else is overdosing and hopes to help other substance abusers turn the page to a new chapter in their lives.
“When I first got into recovery, the support meetings made a big difference in my life; they gave me a new way of living,” she said.
Through her work, she has seen that the opioid epidemic is unlike any other drug crisis.
“It’s almost like Russian Roulette every time you take a drug,” Van Grinsven said. “Fentanyl is being out in methamphetamine; it’s being put in cocaine, and a lot of time people are doing drug screens, and it’s in there, and they didn’t even know.”
Dr. James Williams, a physician and Genesis Club member, has also noticed the rise in narcotics overdoses, and now you will not find him without a dose of the antidote.
“Years ago, I worked in the emergency room. That’s when I frequently used Narcan. I haven’t had to use it since, but now I carry it in my car,” he said. “You’ll see people lying on the street, sitting on the street or falling, and there’s a good chance because of the numbers that they may be having some kind of overdose.”
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Arne Carlson, who founded the Genesis Club in 1982 after defeating his demons and continues to serve as treasurer, knows that there is no amount of value a second chance can be compared to.
“Their lives change, families change,” he said. “People that were unemployable work again. People that were not responsible parents become responsible again.”
