Mercer Correctional Institution placed back on lockdown for search
The Mercer County Correctional Institution was placed back on lockdown Monday to search for contraband.
Mercer Co. - The Mercer County Correctional Institution was placed back on lockdown Monday to search for contraband.
"My initial reaction is that i'm very concerned for worker health and safety and I think everyone is," said State Rep. Mark Longietti (D-Mercer).
The facility went on lockdown Monday, August 6 after an incident where six employees were taken to Grove City Hospital for treatment after coming into contact with a suspicious substance. One of these employees needed Narcan for treatment.
Grove City Hospital was then shut down for two hours after treating those workers for decontamination.
Mercer's SCI says those employees came into contact with the substance while searching a cell and packing inmate property.
Amy Worden, press secretary for the department of corrections in Pennsylvania, says they still do not know what this substance is because police are still running tests.
The lockdown was lifted from this incident on Thursday, August 9 and placed back on lockdown Monday for K9 units to search the prison, according to Worden.
Worden says there were two other incidents of prison employees becoming sick.
On Friday, three workers were taken to the hospital and treated after coming into contact with an inmate who collapsed and became sick.
On Saturday, a commissary worker became ill after handling goods and receipts at the prison.
Worden says that last week, Corrections Emergency Response Teams were searching the facility. These are specially trained units that are dispatched from institutions across the state to assist other institutions as needed.
The prison hopes to have the lockdown lifted on Tuesday, Worden said.
21 News asked State Representative Mark Longietti (D-Mercer) what he thinks needs to be done.
"I don't think we can answer that until we know what the substance is, what the source of it is and then from that you can come up with solutions to make sure that this doesn't get repeated. In the meantime, all steps need to be taken to make sure everybody in that facility is safe."
Worden said that the safety of the staff and inmates is a top priority and the department takes this extremely seriously.
While it's not clear yet what made workers sick here, Worden said the level of toxicity of drugs is getting higher and it's a constant battle not isolated to Mercer. However, in this case there is an unusually high number of incidents and number of people reporting they became ill.
This prison does not have a body scanner for inmates. There is one in an eastern Pennsylvania state prison as part of a pilot program with the intention of expanding to other facilities, according to Worden.
