| Supplemental Info:
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel has announced the immediate lockdown of all state correctional institutions because of reports of multiple staff members sickened by unknown substances.
Wetzel announced the following steps, effective immediately and indefinitely:
• All DOC state prisons are locked down.
• All DOC mailrooms are closed to non-legal mail until further notice.
• Use of personal protective equipment, especially gloves, is MANDATORY for ALL employees.
• Training on situational awareness will be held immediately in all institutions.
• All visits are suspended for the length of the lock down.
Staff also are being advised to use extra caution when parole violators and new commits are received into the prison system.
The lockdown order comes after an incident this morning at Ross Correctional Institution (Chillicothe, Ohio) within which ~24 officers and inmates experienced possible opioid overdose symptoms. Local media is reporting it is believed that fentanyl was introduced into the prison HVAC system.
| 
