Narcan vending machine now in operation in Clark County

CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- Southern Indiana has a new tool in the fight against drug addiction and a way to save lives — through a vending machine.

A vending machine has been placed outside the emergency room entrance at Clark Memorial Hospital. Inside the machine are up to 300 free Narcan nasal kits.

“The more we refill it, the more we know people are getting what they need,” THRIVE Executive Director Phil Stucky said.

Clark County has seen the highest number of overdoses in the last five years due to an increase in fentanyl use. Overdoses in the state of Indiana are up 32% since the start of the pandemic.

narcan vending machine — THRIVE Exec. Director Phil Stucky fills Clark County's first Narcan vending machine.

“Every time you get through an overdose that’s another chance to get someone into recovery,” said Dr. Eric Yazel, with the Clark County Health Department.

The machine outside Clark Memorial is one of 19 across the state paid for by Overdose Lifeline, Inc., first announced by Gov. Eric Holcomb last month. The kits are paid for by a federal grant.

People who want a kit simply walk up, push the corresponding buttons and take a kit free of charge. The machine will be checked and filled, if needed, once a week.

"We do have a population that may get Narcan and brought to the hospital and they may sign themselves out as AMA -- against medical advice -- and when they leave they have a way of at least taking something with them to be safe," said Stucky.

Fentanyl overdoses have also continued to rise. Yazel said 6% of people who overdose and need Narcan "are dead in the next calendar year."

Stucky believes the machines can be a lifeline to a second chance, hoping loved ones of those with addictions take the kits but never have to use them.

“What an amazing tool that we have to set in place where it shows that your community cares about you," he said.