Lansing Police Department installs Narcan vending machine

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - The Lansing Police Department (LPD) is taking steps to curb overdoses in Lansing.

The department installed a new vending machine in its lobby that distributes Narcan. Having Narcan available 24/7 is crucial for helping save a life.

An LPD social worker, Melissa Misner, said she applied for a grant from Wayne State University’s Center for Behavioral Health and Justice. Weeks later, the machine was installed with a full stock of 150 Narcans.

Misner said this is for use by anyone.

“I believe that we are all First Responders. We take first aid CPR classes,” said Misner. “We learn how to do Heimlich Maneuvers. We have first aid kits. This should be in everybody’s first aid kit, and we’re just grateful that we can offer this free to our community 24/7. So if someone needs it at one o’clock in the morning, they can come into our lobby and access it, and that was the whole point of making sure that it was accessible to anyone at any time.”

The machine has dispensed 38 Narcans in the three weeks it’s been used.

This is the second Narcan machine in Lansing. The Ingham County Health Department has a machine in its human services building on South Cedar Street.

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