Martins Ferry Hosts Belmont County’s First Harm Reduction Vending Machine
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MARTINS FERRY -- Belmont County’s first free harm reduction vending machine has arrived in Martins Ferry.
The Wayne L. Hayes Tower is the first location in the county to host the free vending machine.
The vending machine is made possible through an integrated harm reduction grant from the Ohio Department of Health to the Belmont County Health Board.
Health educator Carrigan Goodson said the vending machine has been in the works for about three years.
“We’re super excited to get it finally out there. It has Narcan kits, Deterra bags, sharps containers, safe sex kits, hygiene kits, resource books, so just anything that people in the community could need,” Goodson said. “We’re just doing this so that we can meet people where they are. We understand that it’s hard to get to the health department with the lack of public transportation around here, so we’re just trying to put the resources in the community itself to help people.”
She added that in addition to the resources, the side of the vending machine has information instructing residents to call 988 and 911 if an emergency occurs.
“People think 988 is just a suicide hotline, but it is more than that. If you have a mental health crisis, suicidal thoughts or any sort of thing that you might need help with, they are available to help with it. So that’s a great resource,” Goodson said. “Then, obviously, 911, which most people should know, but if you are responding to an overdose, 911 should be the first call you make, always. So we just have that on there to remind people of the proper way to respond.”
She added that the vending machine is crucial because Belmont County has a high number of overdoses. She said that, luckily, overdoses have been down a little this year, but the board is hoping to lower them even more.
“This is great, and you know, nobody deserves to die,” Goodson said. “We want people to be able to help if they see somebody in crisis. So even if you don’t know someone personally that’s dealing with addiction, just having these resources on you is super important as a bystander.”
Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul added that the board wanted the vending machine so the resources would be accessible to the public at all times.
He said the 24/7 accessibility is important because the health department isn’t always open.
“We’re not open on the weekends or in the evenings, so for them to be able to get access to the Narcan whenever is a good resource for this community,” Sproul said. “We are working on maybe getting a couple more put in the county. We started off with this one to see how the response was going to be, and so far, it’s been very positive.”
He added that the vending machine has been available to the public for about a month, but Tuesday was the official announcement.
Goodson said the board plans to refill the vending machine at least once a month but will fill it more frequently if needed.
“We’ve been very happy with the public coming in and getting the supplies, and we’re hoping that all of the other information for the suicide and crisis hotline will also help,” Sproul said. “So this is a multiple harm reduction plan that we’re trying to implement here for the population.”
Belmont Metropolitan Housing Authority Executive Director Summer Jenkins said that when the health department contacted her about partnering to add the vending machine at the Wayne L. Hayes Tower, she thought it was a great idea.
“It’s something that’s going to benefit the entire community. We were more than willing to work with them and make this happen,” Jenkins said. “I have seen a few of our residents, for sure, get some of the supplies out of there, and I know that I, myself, grabbed the Narcan kit just to have on hand. When I pull into the parking lot, it’s empty pretty often, so somebody must be using it, which is a good thing. We need more people carrying Narcan and the other items too. They’re all great items.”
Health educator Kelli Haney added that there is no limit to the items residents can take, but she asks everyone to be courteous.
“Just take what is needed so that we can make more go around in our communities, but there is technically no limit,” Haney said.