BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Republican lawmakers and others are taking Governor Hochul and the Department of Corrections to task after 11 corrections officers were hospitalized on Sunday in Collins.
Ambulances, state police and Erie County Emergency Medical Services rushed to the Collins Correctional Facility Sunday morning for a possible hazmat situation. According to the New York State Department of Corrections, 11 corrections officers and one inmate were treated at the hospital and released.
The Officer's Union claims personnel were trying to resuscitate an inmate when the officers started feeling light-headed and dizzy, some even vomiting.
Union Vice President Ken Gold says several officers received Narcan as a result. The union previously claimed fentanyl contact may have been to blame. However, NYS Police said no hazardous drugs or contaminants were identified at the scene.
Gold says lawmakers need to take a stand to better staff these facilities and protect the officers.
"We're disrespected every day right from the Governor down," said Gold. "No one listens to a thing, we can scream to the rooftops. The unit itself, we sent a two-page letter to her, begging, basically ... to help us because our officers are getting stuck on doubles and triples ... 16, 24 hour shifts."
Dr. Joshua Lynch is an expert in emergency and addiction medicine. He says passive exposure to fentanyl, like skin or air exposure almost never causes incapacitation.
"What we know now, for many years is that typically passive exposures do not cause, almost always they do not cause incapacitation, passing out, or the effects that we would see if someone had injected fentanyl," he said.
State Police have not confirmed that the corrections officers came in contact with fentanyl. The investigation is ongoing.
Patrick Ryan is an award-winning reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2020. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.
