3 DAYS AFTER 20 WERE STRICKEN, 5 MORE WORKERS AT UPSTATE NY PRISON RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL
A CORRECTION OFFICER AND A PRISON NURSE APPEARED UNRESPONSIVE
A Correction Officer from the maximum-security Upstate Correctional Facility in Malone, New York was rushed to a hospital Saturday night after suspected exposure to synthetic drugs—three days after more than 20 workers at the same prison suffered similar exposure. Photo Credit: JB Nicholas.
EXCLUSIVE
Jan. 26, 2025
Five workers at an upstate New York prison were rushed to the hospital Saturday night, three days after more than 20 workers at the same prison were sickened and taken to the hospital.
Narcan saved the lives of a Correction Officer and a nurse, Thomas Mailey, spokesman for the state agency that operates the prison, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said.
Both appeared unresponsive to a reporter who witnessed them being transported to the hospital.
Two more Correction Officers and another nurse “also fell ill and were taken to the hospital where they were treated and released,” Mailey said.
On Wednesday, 12 Correction Officers, seven nurses and an office assistant became light-headed and some started vomiting after being exposed to suspected synthetic opioid drugs at the same prison, the maximum-security Upstate Correctional Facility in Malone.
A nurse from the maximum-security Upstate Correctional Facility in Malone, New York was rushed to a hospital Saturday night after suspected exposure to synthetic drugs—three days after more than 20 workers at the same prison suffered similar exposure. Photo Credit: JB Nicholas.
Workers’ lives were also saved in the first incident with Narcan, according to emergency radio transmissions and a report in the Albany Times Union.
Saturday night’s medical emergency began at around 11:00pm, when a prisoner was “found unresponsice but breathing, in the infirmary at Upstate Correctional Facility,” the department’s spokesperson said. “Medical and security staff responded and the individual was transported by ambulance to an outside hospital. “
The spokesman said the three Correction Officers and two nurses sickened Saturday night had treated the prisoner.
“One correction officer and a nurse required doses of Narcan to be revived,” Mailey confirmed.
A State Police HAZMAT unit and an investigator from DOCCS’ Office of Special Investigations was dispatched to the scene.
An invesstigation has been opened, Mailey said.
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