GRAND CHUTE, Wis. — There were 1,464 opioid deaths in Wisconsin in 2022; that’s up 18.7% from 2020, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (Wisconsin DHS).

With opioid fatalities on the rise, officials in one tri-county region unveiled a new tool to help reverse this trend.

What You Need To Know

  • There were 1,464 opioid deaths in Wisconsin in 2022; that’s up 18.7% from 2020, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services

  • An estimated one in eight Wisconsin residents were prescribed and used an opioid in the last year, per Wisconsin DHS

  • Public health vending machines are a first for Outagamie, Winnebago and Calumet Counties; officials said it’s also a sign of the spreading opioid crisis

Public health vending machines are a first for Outagamie, Winnebago and Calumet Counties; officials said it’s also a sign of the spreading opioid crisis.

An estimated one in eight Wisconsin residents were prescribed and used an opioid in the last year, per Wisconsin DHS. 

Inside the lobby of the Outagamie County Public Health Building in Appleton, Cassy Stefel stocked the county’s first public health vending machine.

“We have a variety of products like nasal naloxone, the nasal Narcan, and fentanyl testing strips," Stefel said.

Stefel has been a program manager for the county’s overdose fatality review team for the past eight years. In 2022, there were 29 opioid deaths in Outagamie County.

Stefel said she hopes these supplies will help prevent more tragedies.

“Reviewing fatalities with overdose deaths has really kind of shown what the need for some of these harm reduction programs in the community is really needed for Outagamie County,” Stefel said.

The Town of Grand Chute also unveiled its public health vending machine. Of the 29 opioid deaths in Outagamie, 10 happened in the Town of Grand Chute. 

“We’ve experienced a high rate of overdoses in the community; we have 25 hotels and motels in the Town of Grand Chute, a large retail draw for individuals that are looking for shopping destinations, the champion center, which is a big draw for sporting competitions,” David Maas, captain with the Town of Grand Chute Police Department, said.

Medications aren’t the only public safety items in this vending machine. Gun locks are also available.

“Guns are one of the leading mechanisms of death by suicide and so, obviously, we want to try to incorporate a way to distribute gun locks easily,” Maas said.

Gun locks will also be available at the Outagamie Public Health Building. Along with condoms, feminine hygiene products and tick kits. Stefel said it’s important this machine is stocked with a variety of safety products.

“These harm reduction items and prevention items can finally be in the hands of community members and really start working towards helping reduce the deaths that we see and the other chronic illnesses that we see,” Stefel said.

These public health vending machines were purchased with money from Wisconsin’s $400 million opioid settlement.

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