DC Health launches pilot program for lifesaving medical vending machines

The D.C. authorities will roll out hurt-reduction vending devices that give  entry to lifesaving medicine and other wellness products.

DC Overall health, in partnership with the Division of Behavioral Well being and D.C. Fire and EMS, reported that these vending equipment will give lifesaving equipment these types of as naloxone, Narcan and fentanyl check strips, alongside with cleanliness and wellness products and solutions.

This form of device is starting to be more prevalent in metropolitan areas throughout the place thanks to the increase in opioids usage and overdoses, and their ability to supply access to critical solutions that will support the persons who have to have it most.

In Oct 2021, DC Health and fitness awarded grants to the Loved ones and Health care Counseling Products and services and HIPS harm reduction companies to begin the implementation of the vending equipment in the District.

“This pilot challenge will assess the utilization designs and positive effect these products have on the effectively-currently being of vulnerable communities in the region,” DC Well being claimed in a news launch.

4 of the prepared six machines have been placed in areas the office deems as acquiring “higher than ordinary prices of drug overdose and unhoused populations.” The relaxation will be out there April 10.

DC Health and fitness Director Dr. Sharon Lewis claimed the machines goal spot hardest strike by the opioid disaster.

In this article are the areas wherever D.C. inhabitants can come across the vending machines:

• DCFD Motor #7: 1101 50 {6f90f2fe98827f97fd05e0011472e53c8890931f9d0d5714295052b72b9b5161} St. SW
• DCFD Motor #27: 4260 Minnesota Ave. NE
• DCFD Engine #33: 101 Atlantic St. SE
• Whitman-Walker Well being Center: 2301 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE

“They will be strategically placed in places that are not properly-resourced,” Lewis claimed.

To get things inside, all folks need to have to do is phone the amount on the entrance of each machine for a a person-time free of charge access card.

DC Behavioral Overall health Director Dr. Barbara Bazron extra that there could be an avenue for folks in high-require places to established up common obtain to equipment if they get in touch with their division.

“Be completely ready and remain prepared to conserve the everyday living of a liked 1, a friend, a neighbor, or even a stranger,” Bazron claimed.

DC Overall health claimed that depending on the quantities, there is potential for the plan to increase in other places of the District.

WTOP’s Matt Kaufax contributed to this report.

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