MANITOWOC, Wis. (WBAY) – Manitowoc now has its first Narcan vending machine. It’s an effort to address the overdose crisis by providing free Narcan without the stigma.
The public health vending machine is located outside of the Northeastern Wisconsin Area Health Education Center on York St.
It will be operational after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 16. People can get two boxes of Narcan from the machine for free to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.
Alex Hunt, executive director of The Haven homeless shelter, said, “If he wouldn’t have had Narcan, I don’t know that I’d be here to do this interview.”
“You never know when you’re going to be in that type of situation. You could be at the gas station, you could be at Walmart, you could be at the library and all of a sudden you see someone fall out of their chair or come out of the bathroom and fall down. Maybe it’s an overdose, maybe it’s not, but if you have Narcan and you can use it you might be able to save that person’s life,” Hunt said.
There are about 75 vending machines like this in the state. This is the first in Manitowoc, and it was paid for with grants.
Emily Longmeyer-Wolf, co-chair of Healthiest Manitowoc County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, explained how it works.
“You would go up to the machine, press 1234, and then you’ll answer two different questions — your ZIP Code and how old you are — and then you get…two different things for free, so you can get two boxes of Narcan or you can get a box of Narcan and fentanyl test strips, and it will dispense like a regular vending machine.”
The vending machine was installed on York St. because the general area is identified as a hotspot for overdoses.
There were 18 reported overdose deaths in Manitowoc in 2023.
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