Health Department - WKTV Journal

By Maggie Carey
WKTV Contributor

The Kent County Health Department has rung in the New Year with a partnership with the Grand Rapids Red Project to provide free access to life-saving Narcan in a vending machine at its main clinic in Grand Rapids.

The Grand Rapids Red Project is a nonprofit that provides health resources to prevent the spread of disease and save lives. They have partnered with the Kent County Health Department and Cherry Health to provide Narcan vending machines in four locations around Kent County.

What is Narcan and how does it work?

Naloxone, sold and marketed under the brand name Narcan, is a life-saving medication that reverses or reduces the effects of opioids. When a drug overdose occurs, Narcan can be given to reverse the effects of decreased breathing and help the patient regain consciousness. For a more scientific explanation from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Narcan is an opioid receptor antagonist which means it binds to opioid receptors and reverses or blocks the effects of other opioids.

Why is Narcan needed?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 92,000 people in the United States died from a drug-involved overdose in 2020. The State of Michigan reported in 2018, there were 2,809 deaths from drug overdoses in Michigan alone.

In Kent County, Rachel Jantz from the Kent County Opioid Task Force, said there is an increased need for Narcan due to the synthetic opioid Fentanyl becoming more pervasive in the community.

The opioid epidemic is one of the largest public health crises in United States history and Narcan is an available resource to help mitigate drug overdose deaths.

How do you administer Narcan?

The vending machines available in Kent County are stocked with intranasal Narcan, a spray that can only be applied into the nose to produce its desired effect. The Nasal Spray contains only 1 dose of medicine and cannot be reused. The steps of Narcan administration are as follows and cited by the official Narcan website:

Narcan vending machine located at Kent County Health Department, 700 Fuller Ave NE (WKTV/Maggie Carey)

Step 1: Lay the person on their back and support their neck.

Step 2: Remove Narcan Nasal Spray from the box. Peel back the tab with the circle to open the Narcan Nasal Spray.

Step 3: Hold the Narcan Nasal Spray with your thumb on the bottom of the red plunger and your first and middle fingers on either side of the nozzle.

Step 4: Tilt the person’s head back and provide support under the neck with your hand. Gently insert the tip of the nozzle into one nostril until your fingers on either side of the nozzle are against the bottom of the person’s nose.

Step 5: Press the red plunger firmly to give the dose of Narcan Nasal Spray. Remove from the nostril after giving the dose.

Step 6: Call 911 for emergency medical help.

Where can Narcan be found?

Narcan is now available for free to residents of Kent County at four locations thanks to the Grand Rapids Red Project and its partnership with the Kent County Health Department and Cherry Health. These machines have 24-hour access and to use them, just type in the slot that has an available pack and the vending machine will distribute the pack cost-free.

Residents are encouraged to take a one or two of the sprays to have on hand for an emergency. Narcan has a shelf life of about two to three years. Recent studies have shown that naloxone, the drug in Narcan, can last up to 30 years past its expiration date although people are encouraged to refresh their supply within that two- to three-year mark.

The locations of the four vending machines are:

Kent County Health Department, 700 Fuller Ave NE (located at the environmental health entrance which is left from the main building entrance)

Cherry Health’s Heart of the City, 100 Cherry Street SE

Red Project, 401 Hall SE

Cherry Health’s Montcalm Health Center, 1003 N Lafayette St.

Kent Count Health Department encourages those on the list to pre-register for the vaccine. (pxhere.com)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

On the heals of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s warning of increase COVID cases, he Kent County Health Department (KCHD) is alerting the community to the reality that COVID-19 cases, positivity rate and hospitalizations are all increasing within the county.

Over the past week, the average number of new Kent County cases per day has increased from approximately 75 to more than 100, including the 178 which were reported on March 17. The county’s positivity rate has increased to 5.4 percent after two months of a four percent rate. Local hospitals are also reporting an increase in COVID-19 inpatient admissions. These increases reflect trends being observed in many other parts of Michigan and around the world.

“It is critically important for everyone to remember that the arrival of coronavirus variants and prematurely relaxed attitudes about COVID-19, put our community in grave danger of a resurgence in cases and deaths,” said Kent County Health Department Administrative Health Officer, Dr. Adam London. “Our county has already lost at least 656 residents to this pandemic. We do not want to see anyone else lose their life, especially when we are so near to the end of this pandemic.”

COVID cases are on the rise in Kent County. (FDA.gov)

Public health and healthcare officials urge people to continue adhering to the prevention strategies which have been proven to reduce transmission:

1) wear facial coverings in public places,
2) stay home if you are not feeling well,
3) avoid large social gatherings, and
4) practice good hand washing.

The KCHD is also encouraging residents to be prepared to get vaccinated as soon as an opportunity is available. To date, 28.1 percent of Kent County’s population has received at least one dose of vaccine. Approximately 70 percent of our residents aged 65 or older have received at least one dose and the number of cases in that age group has been cut in half. The approved vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have shown themselves to be safe and effective. The KCHD, Spectrum Health, Mercy Health Saint Mary’s, and many other partners anticipate the volume of vaccine allocated to our area to increase dramatically between now and the end of May.

The Health Department continues to vaccinate healthcare workers, first responders, K-12 educators, childcare providers, congregate care workers, all people aged 65 and older, people aged 50 and older with underlying health conditions, caregivers and guardians of children with special healthcare needs, and uniquely vulnerable/underserved populations of people. All people aged 50 and older will become officially eligible on March 22, but Health Department officials encourage them to pre-register now.

At this time, the Health Department are also strongly encouraging other people in category 1B to pre-register. This group includes people who, by the nature of their business, work in close proximity to other people in the workplaces of food and agriculture, critical manufacturing, public transit, grocery stores, postal service, civil service, utilities, and other critical infrastructure. Appointments will generally be made according to vulnerability and phase status. Pre-registered persons in upcoming Michigan Department of Health and Human Services phases may be scheduled early depending on vaccine availability.