Drug Exposure MCI at Ohio and Pennsylvania Prisons

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Corrections authorities in Ohio and Pennsylvania on Wednesday investigated inmate and staff exposure to drugs and chemicals in what appeared to be unrelated incidents that nevertheless underscored the continuing issue of contraband drugs inside the nation's prisons and jails. In Pennsylvania, the state prisons were on a lockdown precipitated by 29 employees at 10 prisons requiring treatment in recent weeks from exposure to a yet-unidentified substance described in some cases as a liquid synthetic drug. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced the step Wednesday, the same day that about a half-dozen staff at Somerset and Albion state prisons reported feeling ill. Symptoms include dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea and skin tingling. Troopers: Fentanyl, heroin mixture behind mass drug exposure, WCPO In Ohio, prison guards, nurses and inmates were among the nearly 30 people treated for possible drug exposure inside Ross Correctional Institution. The incident began around 9 a.m. Wednesday when an inmate showed signs of a possible drug overdose, said patrol spokesman Lt. Robert Sellers. As officers and medical responders arrived, a total of 28 individuals, including 23 guards, four nurses and an inmate, were treated through the administration of naloxone, a drug used to combat overdoses caused by opioids such as heroin or fentanyl, Sellers said. They were taken to Adena Regional Medical Center in Chillicothe for evaluation. At the hospital, Dr....
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: News Mass Casualty Incidents News Videos Patient Care Source Type: news