By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Wood County may soon have vending machines stocked with Narcan for drug overdose victims.
Aimee Coe, interim executive director of the Wood County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services, talked Thursday evening about putting one of the vending machines at the Wood County Health Department.
The board of health voted unanimously to host the Narcan dispenser.
Narcan is a medicine sprayed in the nose that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.
“It helps keep people alive long enough so they can get the treatment they need,” Coe told the board of health members.
The ADAMHS Board is applying to the state to get funding to place three vending machines at different sites in the county.
“I’m really hopeful we’ll be able to get the funding,” Coe said.
If successful, the vending machines could be in place by September of 2023. The health department is the only confirmed site, but other locations are being considered at Bowling Green State University and the new Unison site on West Poe Road in Bowling Green.
The ADAMHS staff would maintain and fill the vending machines.
“So individuals can purchase Narcan 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” as long as they have a code, Coe said.
The vending machines will not cost the health department or other sites any money. The dispensers have to be placed outside on a concrete pad, under a roof, and have hardwired internet. The health department machine will likely be placed under the front awning of the building.
Each vending machine will hold up to 216 units of Narcan.
People wanting a code to access the Narcan will have to call the ADAMHS Google Phone during business hours. The callers will be asked if they know how to use Narcan, why they need it, plus some demographic details. They will not be asked to give a name, Coe said.
The four-digit codes can be customized based on needs, for how many units an individual can get. Some people may have multiple people in their lives who are at risk for overdoses. In some cases, people intending to take other substances end up using fentanyl without knowing it, Coe said. Overdoses with fentanyl can take as many as four doses to reverse the drug.
The Narcan dispensers have been placed around Ohio and Michigan, with different demands depending on the location. “Every county has varied in their use rates,” Coe said.
If the vending machines are successful here, Coe said ADAMHS may expand the program to the north and south ends of Wood County.
