On the front lines of an epidemic
BY ALYSSA MEIER
Editor
On the southern border of McLean County, nestled in the curves of U.S. Highway 83, a small ambulance squad is fighting to keep up with the growing number of emergency calls involving controlled substances.
Wilton Ambulance squad leader Leann Domonske-Kellar, who has been full-time with the squad since 2004, says she’s observed a significant spike in calls involving drug use in the area.
“It’s definitely increased in just the last few years,” Domonske-Kellar said. “Maybe it was there and we just weren’t aware, and now we are very, very much aware.”
To aid them in their response efforts, the Wilton squad starting carrying Narcan in 2016. Narcan, also known as Naloxone, is an opioid overdose reversal drug, administered as a nasal spray, which is available as an over-the-counter medication.
In the two years since the squad, headquartered in the city of 700, started carrying Narcan, it has put it into use roughly once every two and a half months.
“We’ve used Narcan probably 10 or more times in the last two years,” Domonoske-Kellar said. “That’s a lot.”
