Officers Suffer Reaction to Fentanyl After Exposure from Tainted Prison Mail

Two Oneida County Correction Officers are being treated after they were exposed to fentanyl.

Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol says the two were exposed to fentanyl on Thursday, January 27, 2022.  Maciol says that the officers opened a piece of mail that had been sent to an inmate at the Oneida County Jail.  The envelope was believed to contain a suspicious substance.  When tested, results came back positive for the presence of fentanyl.

"Both officers," according to a written release from the Oneida County Sheriff's Office, "began to display symptoms consistent with a fentanyl exposure and were given Narcan by medical staff at the facility to neutralize the drug’s effects before being transported to Oneida Hospital by ambulance for evaluation."

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid which is used to treat pain.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "(it) is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine."

The officers have since been medically cleared by the hospital and discharged.

In addition to the officers being treated, the area in which the exposure occurred was also decontaminated by the Utica Fire Department’s Hazmat Unit.

No other injuries were reported.  At this time it is not known if any charges will be filed in connection with the case.  Neither the sender of the envelope or the inmate/addressee is being identified at this time.

[EDITOR'S NOTE:   This post is for informational purposes and is based largely on information received from the Oneida County Sheriff's Office.  At the time of this posting no additional information is available.]