HOWELL — A new vending machine in Howell could save the life of someone overdosing on opioid drugs.
Locals can now pick up naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of opioids, including Fentanyl, from a vending machine in the lobby of Livingston County Community Mental Health, located in the county’s east complex building at 2280 E. Grand River Ave. in Howell.
Naloxone is commonly referred to as “Narcan.”
The lobby is open 8 a.m-5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays-Fridays and 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays. The naloxone kits from the vending machine are free, available to anyone, and anonymous.
Free kits are also available daily after 5 p.m. and on weekends at Stepping Stones Engagement Center, 2020 E. Grand River, Ste. 102 in Howell. Some pharmacies and recovery centers also carry naloxone.
The kits come with two four-milligram doses of the medication in a nasal spray, which can be given to a person experiencing an opioid overdose, according to Livingston CMH.
“The medication will be absorbed and effective even if the person isn’t breathing,” officials wrote in a release. “Naloxone is safe for anyone to administer and will not hurt the person if they are not actually overdosing, according to the CDC. Each naloxone box contains directions for administering the medication as well as a QR code to view a state training on how administer it.”
It can be given every 2-3 minutes to restore breathing, according to the release.
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“Signs of an overdose are blue lips/fingernails; infrequent, uneven or no breathing; deep snoring or gurgling noises, unresponsive to pain; clammy skin; and pinpoint pupils,” officials wrote.
There were 568 opioid poisonings in the county between March 2, 2020, and July 31, 2022, according to a report on overdose trends completed earlier this year by the Livingston County Health Department and Livingston CMH.
Ninety people died from overdoses between Jan. 8, 2020, and June 30, 2022, with the average age of death at 44 years old, according to county data.
“Fentanyl was the primary drug in 40 percent of those deaths,” officials said.
— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.