CHIPPEWA FALLS -- Overdose deaths have plunged in Chippewa County this year after years of steady increases. The county is hoping to continue that trend, as they have obtained funding for a vending machine kiosk that will distribute, among other things, fentanyl testing strips and Narcan.

Brittnay Fortuna, Chippewa County Public Health director, met with the Health & Human Services Board last week to share the good news on overdose deaths trending downward. The Board also approved acquiring the kiosk machine.

There were 10 reported overdose deaths in the county in 2022 and 14 in 2023, but by late November, only five overdose deaths had been reported this year -- lower than any of the past seven years, according to a report shared with the board.

Fortuna said Monday it showed all the preventative work the county is doing is paying off. The county receives opioid settlement dollars that goes towards education, she said.

"And there is awareness of where our resources are," said Fortuna.

The county's downward trend matches what is happening on a state and national level. According to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics, overdose deaths in Wisconsin fell 23.8% from July 2023 to July 2024, compared to a year earlier. The national decline in that period is a 19.3% decline. Even with the decline, about 90,000 Americans have died from drug overdose in the past year, down from 94,000 a year earlier.

Sheriff Travis Hakes agreed with Fortuna that hard work is paying off.

"It's community involvement and collaboration," Hakes said. "It's the amount of community outreach."

Hakes pointed out that out-of-home placements of children also dropped significantly in the past year, and he contends those are related.

Dean Mueller, a Chippewa County Board member who serves on the Health & Human Services Board, agreed that education is a factor.

"It is good -- I can't point to any specific policy or procedure that made that happen," Mueller said.

Lee Hennick, who also serves on both the county board and the Health & Human Services Board, said the drop in deaths has to be credited to work by the county's Human Services Department, and those county workers deserve praise.

"They've made a dedicated effort to warn the public about the consequences of drug use," Hennick said.

Kiosk comingFortuna said the county has received a $50,000 grant to purchase a public health vending machine. It is expected to arrive in early January and will be placed in the lobby of the Chippewa County Jail, with public access at the corner of High Street and Spruce Street.

Along with Narcan, fentanyl testing strips and Xylazine testing strips, the vending machine will distribute items like gun locks, feminine hygiene products and pregnancy tests, and condoms. Fortuna said people will only be required to enter a zip code into the machine. She is hopeful people will enter their true zip code, as it will give her office a sense of where they need to invest more time, funding and education. The items are dropped in a bag.

"Everything is discreet," Fortuna said. "No one will know what you are walking away with."

Hakes said he wrote a letter in support of obtaining the vending machine.

"There is one in almost every county around us," Hakes said. "It will be nice to have free access to it."

Mueller liked the location.

"The lobby there appears to be a good fit," Mueller said. "Hopefully, people will take advantage of the help that is out there."

Hennick said it was the first time he had seen one of these kiosks.

"It's a good thing for the community," Hennick said. "The problem with the kiosk is we can't put them everywhere because they are so expensive."