Chelsea England
Chelsea England
MKE Overdose Prevention is an organization that offers Narcan training and resources to communities, businesses and individuals to help stop opiate-related deaths. Started by Chelsea England, the organization raises money for Vivent Health and LifePoint Needle Exchange who in turn supply them with Narcan.
England shares why this work is important to her:
“I had an opiate problem for several years but haven’t used opiates in over 10 years now. Unfortunately, I know people who have passed away from overdoses and that definitely could have been me.
“I was working at Aurora last February in the outpatient clinic and somebody had pulled up with their friend overdosing in the car and they ended up dying. It’s just really horrific to see the way somebody looks when they’re losing oxygen to their body, and that incident combined with working in health care and going to school for psychology made me realize that there are resources but they’re not always available to the public. I had been trained a few years ago when I was working at an abortion clinic; you used to have to have a prescription for Narcan so before AIDS Resource Center turned into Vivent, I had a prescription that stayed in the clinic and everyone was able to use Narcan there under my name if needed.
“Now, luckily, you don’t need a prescription. It’s always been important to me because Narcan will just be sitting in someone’s office and I want it to be in peoples’ hands.”
For those that don’t know, Narcan (or naloxone) is a medication that reverses the effects of opioids and can come in both pill form or nasal spray. It’s safe to be used in pregnancy and is non-habit forming.
“Opiates last longer than Narcan in your body so oftentimes you need to give multiple doses,” England added.
Training at Local Businesses
MKE Overdose Prevention had their first training at Company Brewing this past August and has since worked with businesses such as The Daily Bird and Riverwest Co-op, as well as with the crew Femmes With Bikes.
England had an incident with somebody overdosing on the literal day of a training session.
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“I was working from home on Monday and the owner of The Daily Bird messaged me and said they needed Narcan right at that moment. I got there before the EMT and luckily the person woke up so we didn’t have to push more than once. These things happen every day. The police didn't help; they ended up getting there after the person who overdosed and the EMTs had already left and they said it was too bad because they wanted to arrest the person. For what? What is that going to teach them?”
She’s right about how often this happens. In 2021, 560 people are known to have died of drug overdoses in Milwaukee County—more than the record 545 deaths in 2020 as reported by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Opioids kill more than 136 Americans every day, according to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics.
England shares her goals for MKE Overdose Prevention this year.
“I want to create more partnerships with local businesses and organizations. Nate Northway is a web designer and he’s been helping me with my website, which I hope to launch soon. Getting 501c3 status is one of my main goals, and I also want to buy some type of vehicle to make into a mobile clinic sort of thing where we’ll drive around and park in different spots to hand out supplies.
"I want there to be Sharps containers available because there has to be safe ways for people to dispose of their tools; otherwise, needles get left in places like the beach. Portland has a huge opiate problem but they use old postal drop boxes for needles and sometimes people will hang Narcan on the side of them. We build a stronger community when we all have the knowledge to save lives. It could happen to anyone, even people who are legally prescribed opiates.”
MKE Overdose Prevention’s next training will be 5 p.m., Feb. 10 at Dino’s, which will donate a portion of drink sales to the organization. The following training will be at Bremen Café, 5:30 p.m., March 10.
