Eskenazi Health adds naloxone vending machine, 10 NaloxBoxes to expand access

INDIANAPOLIS — As the opioid crisis continues, Eskenazi Health is providing more places for anyone to have access to a potentially lifesaving medication.

Through a partnership with Overdose Lifeline, a naloxone vending machine is now at Eskenazi Health Center West 38th Street, and ten NaloxBoxes are now outside Eskenazi Health Centers across Indianapolis.

Naloxone is a nasal spray medication that temporarily reverses opioid overdose.

Each kit inside the vending machine includes a single dose of naloxone, instructions for use and a referral to treatment for substance use disorder. Each NaloxBox contains six to eight naloxone kits.

MAP: NaloxBox locations and Naloxone distribution centers around Indiana

Dr. Tyler Stepsis, chief of emergency medicine with Eskenazi Health, says no training is needed to give someone naloxone.

"The nice part is unless you somehow spray it outside of the body, you're doing it okay. You don't need any special medical training; you just need to know where the nose is and how to direct the spray into the nose," Dr. Stepsis said.

He says it takes awhile for the antidote for work, so the person may not wake up right away. The goal of using naloxone is to get the person breathing again.

Stepsis says Eskenazi's emergency room sees "a fair amount" of people who have overdosed or suffer from opiate use disorder.

"We know that access to naloxone saves lives," Dr. Stepsis said."The hard part is that the stigma still remains."

He says you don't need to be afraid that you're giving it to the wrong type of person; naloxone has no side effects if given to an unconscious person who is not overdosing.

"If you can be in a place where you can use it and maybe help someone, by all means do it," Dr. Stepsis said.

These Eskenazi Health Centers now have NaloxBoxes outside their facilities:

• Eskenazi Health Center Blackburn — 2700 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St.
• Eskenazi Health Center College Avenue — 1650 N. College Ave. Ste. B
• Eskenazi Health Center Forest Manor — 3840 N. Sherman Dr.
• Eskenazi Health Center Grassy Creek — 9443 E. 38th St.
• Eskenazi Health Center North Arlington — 2505 N. Arlington Ave.
• Eskenazi Health Center North Illinois Street — 1660 N. Illinois St.
• Eskenazi Health Center Pecar — 6940 N. Michigan Rd.
• Eskenazi Health Center Pedigo — 1112 Southeastern Ave.
• Eskenazi Health Center West 38th Street — 5515 W. 38th St.
• Eskenazi Health Center Westside — 2732 W. Michigan St.

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