The West Side Heroin Opioid Taskforce is working with the CTA to potentially install newsstand-style boxes stocked with naloxone, an opioid overdose-reversing medication commonly known as Narcan, on the ‘L’ stations platforms.
The proposal is still in the early stages. Fanya Burford-Berry, co-chair of the taskforce’s subcommittee responsible for CTA-related outreach, officially submitted a proposal to the transit agency. The idea was to have the medicine within arm’s reach of a rider who might see someone overdosing. The task force includes instructions on how to use Narcan on the newsstand boxes, and it hopes that the CTA will share information via station displays.
If CTA accepts the proposal, the program will be launched as a pilot. The taskforce is optimistic that they will see a response within a month.
Naloxone works by blocking opioids’ receptor proteins, which reduces the opioid effects, and helps return breathing to normal. “Naloxone” is the name of the medicine itself. “Narcan” is one of the brand names of the nasal spray version of it.
This is something that’s deeply person for former social worker Sheila Haennicke, the other co-chair of the CTA subcommittee. In November 2021, her son, David, died of an accidental overdose while riding the Blue Line. Although he had Narcan in his pocket, there was no one on the scene who could use it. By the time EMTs arrived, David was pronounced dead.
The Task Force previously put up 21 newsstands at West Side medical centers, community organizations and churches, among other locations. Each one includes directions for how to administer Narcan.
Haennicke made her case to the Chicago Transit Board during its November meeting, saying that, if Narcan was easily available on CTA platforms and riders felt confident about using it, other families might be spared the pain she felt.
“I want to get Narcan in the hands of riders, so we can help each other,” she said.
A week later, the task force was invited to meet with CTA officials. That resulted in the transit agency inviting them to submit an official proposal. If accepted, the task force and the CTA would launch a pilot program, which could lead to something more permanent down the road.
In an interview after the meeting, Haennicke said the task force would provide the newsstands and restock them.
“We know CTA workers are there to keep the trains running, they have many things to do,” she said.
The Blue Line has a total of five stations serving the West Side, while the Green Line has eight and Pink Line has five. Blue Line has traditionally been a focus of outreach efforts because it operates around the clock and serves the parts of the West Side with some of the highest overdose rates in Chicago. Haennicke gave the Blue Line’s Kedzie-Homan station as an example of an area they want to put particular focus on.
“We want riders to be empowered to have access to lifesaving Narcan,” she said, adding that they wouldn’t object to someone just taking Narcan and using it for themselves, or keeping it so they can use it for someone else in need.
Another thing they were hoping to do was to have CTA use its information displays, which also show advertising and public service announcements, to let the riders know how to use Narcan.
In an interview last week, Haennicke said she and Burford-Berry were optimistic that CTA would respond to the proposal within a month, if not sooner.
“Given how responsive they have been so far, I’m sure we will have an immediate reply, though they did tell us that it can take time to work things out because of the bureaucracy,” she said.
