By WMBD-TV
BLOOMINGTON – Chestnut Health System announced that it has installed a Narcan vending machine to address the increasing number of overdose deaths in McLean County.
According to a Chestnut Health System news release, the vending machine providing free Naloxone/Narcan will be located at Chestnut Health’s 1003 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive location.
“The naloxone available in the vending machine is easy and safe to use,” Dan Hutchison, associate director of community health at Chestnut, said. “It might save the life of someone you know.”
The vending machine is one of the ways Chestnut’s Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution team is trying to complete its goal of preventing overdose deaths in the area.
“Any time there’s an opportunity to remove a barrier for someone who is using substances or keeping them safe, increasing strategies such as harm reduction, we looked at this as an opportunity to increase access for people who were in need of receiving naloxone,” Nadia Klekamp, director of integrated community education at Chestnut Health Systems, said
According to information Chestnut Health got from the McLean County coroner, there were 32 overdose deaths in McLean County in 2023, this is up from 25 overdose deaths in 2022.
Chestnut Health also offers free Narcan/Naloxone training. The next training session will be held on Oct. 9 from 3-4 p.m. at Chestnut Family Health Center, 702 W. Chestnut St., Bloomington.
Participants will learn about the opioid epidemic and how to administer Narcan. Those interested can register here.
More information is available on Chestnut Health’s website.
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