Opioid Dollars Will Fund Emergency Cabinet
- Mar 17
- 1 min read
by Trinity Gruenberg
The Wadena County Commissioners held their regular meeting on March 3.
Opioid Settlement Dollars to Fund Public Safety Cabinet at City Park
A new public access safety cabinet will house an automated external defibrillator (AED) and naloxone (Narcan) at the city’s main park by the Depot. The $10,700 request came from the county’s Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee on behalf of Advocates for Health, a Sartell‑based nonprofit that installs and maintains outdoor emergency cabinets in rural communities. The money will come from opioid settlement funds, and will cover the cabinet, AED, naloxone, a four‑year maintenance and monitoring plan, and an allowance for electrical work.
Public Health staff said the Depot park site was chosen as a central, high‑traffic location that hosts numerous community events. They noted the cabinet will be temperature‑controlled and electronically monitored and that opening the door will trigger both an alarm and an automatic 911 notification. Advocates for Health will remotely check the equipment multiple times per day and handle or coordinate replacement of expired pads, batteries and naloxone.
Commissioners questioned why a nonprofit, rather than the county’s Public Health Department, should manage the project and who would pay for maintenance after the four‑year term. A representative from Advocates for Health told the board that, in other counties, ongoing support is often covered by local service clubs, townships or counties, sometimes with sponsorship logos on the cabinet. Public Health staff said the cabinet is intended to complement, not replace, naloxone already carried by law enforcement and first responders...
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