Collins, N.Y. (WBEN) - A total of 11 correctional officers and one nurse were taken to Erie County Medical Center on Sunday after being exposed to an unknown substance at Collins Correctional Facility on Sunday.
Several officers at the state-run facility responded to a call of an inmate who was attempting to commit suicide at around 9 a.m. ET.
"They did everything they could, they did their job as expected. They called the response, and numerous officers from around the facility, when a response goes off, respond to this area," said Ken Gold, vice president for the Western Region of the New York State Corrections Officers PBA (NYSCOPBA). "They went in, they were doing life-saving measures on this inmate. And while they were doing that, slowly but surely, different members, as they were doing chest compressions or whatnot, they started feeling lightheaded, dizzy. One officer actually had to be relieved from what he was doing to go vomit."
After working to save the inmate's life and reviving him, all 11 officers that responded were transported to ECMC, but not before they were administered Narcan.
"Numerous officers multiple times being Narcaned. They end up at ECMC, hazmats there. It was something I've never seen in my life before," Gold said during a press briefing Wednesday outside the facility in the Town of Collins. "You would think these members wake up in the morning, they're going to go in; we know we don't work with the best clientele, we know stuff could happen. But to think you're going to go attempt to save someone's life and end up in ECMC, because God knows what they were exposed to. To this minute, they still don't know what they were exposed to."
Gold says there continues to be speculation as to what these corrections officers were exposed to on Sunday. Whether it was synthetic marijuana or fentanyl, Gold says the union and its members have not been given any definitive answers.
"What Collins faced on Sunday, that is a statewide issue," said Chris Summers, president of NYSCOPBA. "Our officers and sergeants are walking in those facilities on a daily basis, not knowing when they're going to walk out. Working 16-to-24 hours, not knowing when they're going to see their family next. And God forbid, what happened here on Sunday - getting exposed to something that would cause them to maybe not come home - that's uncalled for."
After the incident and the officers were sent to the hospital in Buffalo, around 20 officers were called in on their days off to help take over in the jail.
What was additionally upsetting for Gold on Sunday was amidst the exposure, the facility decided to still run the visit room for inmates' families.
"Notwithstanding the fact we don't even know what's going on in the facility, if it was safe for those visitors. They don't have the staff to run it, but members are coming in from home, leaving their families so the inmates can see theirs. It's downright disrespectful and unacceptable," Gold added,
New York Congressman Nick Langworthy (NY-23) says incidents like this at facilities across the state need to be brought to light more, and that there needs to be more respect for the officers serving to protect in correctional facilities.
"11 corrections officers and one nurse have had their lives put in jeopardy because of what happened in this jail, probably exposed to fentanyl, but I guess we'll never know. We're here today to bring awareness and attention to this that needs to happen, because these corrections officers, it's far time to stop them for being taken for granted," said Langworthy.
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia was also on-hand Wednesday to stand with his brothers and sisters working in state corrections. He says Sunday's incident at the Collins Correctional Facility was "gut-wrenching".
"Speaking to one of the corrections officers, he told me, 'I thought I was going to die,'" said Garcia. "This is a honorable profession, a profession that many of us get into to serve the public, to protect and serve. With it comes some good benefits, a pension, but those have been watered down over the years. But can you imagine working in a job, day-in and day-out, where you get spit on, you get punched in the face, you get bodily fluids such as urine and feces thrown at you, and there's no one held accountable, no repercussions. The HALT Act is equivalent to bail reform. You do whatever you do, and no one is held responsible at the end of the day."
The Bureau of Criminal Investigation was also on the scene Sunday and working with DOCCS on the follow up to the incident.