* The Southern…

Thirty-three reports obtained by the Southern include sick or impaired inmates and staff. In those reports, 51 people were observed or reported being sick, leading to 39 recorded hospitalizations.

Of these incidents, 11 took place at Menard Correctional Center, 10 took place at Pinckneyville CC, five took place at Dixon CC, four took place at Big Muddy River CC, two took place at Lawrence CC, and one each took place at Illinois River, Hill, Logan, Stateville and Sheridan Correctional Centers.

Common symptoms reported include vomiting, slurred speech, dizziness, elevated pulse rates, heart rates and blood pressures, chest pains, headaches, numbness, lightheadedness and fainting. Some staff reported breaking out into hives, rashes or burning sensations on their arms.

Eight reports included at least one witness smelling smoke before feeling symptoms. […]

While there were a few cases of Fentanyl being found in prisons, a large majority of the findings either yielded positive results for synthetic cannabis or displayed similar characteristics.

* From one of those IDOC documents, which I also obtained…

Officer #1 tested the piece of paper utilizing a SIRCHIE NARK II C2 Reagent Test Kit, which yielded a positive result for Synthetic Marijuana.

* But those NARK II field tests have come under intense criticism in other states…

More evidence of the tests’ inaccuracy came in October 2021, when former inmates filed a class-action lawsuit against the Massachusetts Department of Correction. The prisons used test kits on all incoming mail, including letters from attorneys. When correspondence tested positive, inmates were sometimes put in solitary confinement and lost eligibility for parole. The lawsuit alleged that the prison system’s use of field tests violated the inmates’ right to due process.

Court records show that between August 2019 and August 2020, lab analysis found that 38% of the inmate mail that tested positive did not contain the alleged drug. Shortly after the inmates filed their lawsuit, Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Brian David ordered the Correction Department to immediately stop using the chemical kits until the litigation was finished.

In the order, David characterized the NARK II brand kits used in Massachusetts’ prisons as “arbitrary and unlawful guesswork.”

The inmates are also suing Sirchie Acquisition Co., manufacturer of the NARK II kits, and Premier Biotech, a retailer that sells them, in federal court for negligence, alleging the companies misrepresented the kits’ risk of false positives and provided inaccurate instructions to the state prisons. In September, a federal judge ruled that field test sellers can potentially be held liable for harm caused by erroneous results. Both of the lawsuits are ongoing.

* Part of the testing issue is this…

Synthetic cannabinoids are not one drug. Hundreds of different synthetic cannabinoid chemicals are manufactured and sold. New ones with unknown health risks become available each year.

* OK, now, scroll back up and re-read this from the Southern’s article…

Common symptoms reported include vomiting, slurred speech, dizziness, elevated pulse rates, heart rates and blood pressures, chest pains, headaches, numbness, lightheadedness and fainting. Some staff reported breaking out into hives, rashes or burning sensations on their arms.

From WebMD…

If you suddenly have four or more of these symptoms, you may be having a panic attack:

• Sudden high anxiety with or without a cause
• A “racing” heart
• Feeling weak, faint, or dizzy
• Shaking
• Tingling or numbness in the hands and fingers
• Sense of terror, or impending doom or death
• Feeling sweaty or having chills
• Nausea
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Breathing difficulties, including a “smothering” sensation or shortness of breath
• A feeling of choking
• Feeling a loss of control
• A sense of unreality
• A fear of going crazy or losing control
• A fear of dying

Medical News Today…

Research has found that chronic anxiety increases the sympathetic nervous system’s response to stress. This response releases histamine, a substance the body usually releases to respond to inflammation or allergic reactions. An increased release of histamine may lead to a rash or hives.

* Back to the internal IDOC document from above…

NARRATIVE: On September 1, 2024, at approximately 12:15 PM, Correctional Officer #1 was evaluated in the Health Care Unit due to complaints of not feeling well. #1 was experiencing nausea, vomiting, and headache. After an evaluation in Menard HCU it was advised that Officer #1 should be taken to the hospital.

DISPOSITION: Correctional Officer #1 was driven to Chester Memorial Hospital for treatment and evaluation by Correctional Lt. #1, who will remain with Officer #1 until a family member arrives. It should be noted that Officer #1 was assigned to the R&C Unit where he had performed duties of passing out the lunch trays, during which time he had PPE consisting of Gloves. Officer #1 advised he did accept a sick call slip from an individual in Custody on the bottom deck near the stairs and did not have gloves on when he handled the sick call note. Officer #1 was unsure of the name of the Individual in Custody and was only able to describe the individual in Custody as a white male he believed to be in his twenties. Officer #1 advised the main complaint from this individual in custody was a rash. Officer #1 stated after handling the sick call note he took his chow break and began feeling sick after returning from chow. Menard Investigations unit is looking into the situation further to help identify the unknown individual and isolate the sick call note.

* Here’s another one from a different file…

On 7-11-24 at approximately 9:05 a.m. Officer #1, assigned to R4 C&D wing, was securing cell doors twenty through twenty-four when he began to smell an odor of smoke on the wing. Officer #1 exited the wing and reported to Sergeant #1, assigned to R4 Unit, of the incident and that he was experiencing dizziness, numbness and tingling in both arms, and elevated heart rate. Officer #1 was taken to the Health Care Unit to be evaluated by medical staff. Sergeant #1 contacted Lieutenant #1 via radio and requested Lieutenant #1 to report to R4. Lieutenant #1 and Temporary Assigned Lieutenant #2 reported to R4. Sergeant #1 went to the top deck of R4 Cwing to secure individuals until the odor was located and identified. Sergeant #1 reported to Temporary Assigned Lieutenant #2 that he was feeling dizzy. Sergeant #1 exited the wing and was taken to the Health Care Unit to be evaluated by medical staff.

Officer #1 was evaluated by Nurse #1 and recommended that Officer #1 be taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital by state van due to reporting of being dizzy, numbness and tingling in both arms and high blood pressure. Sergeant #1 was evaluated by Nurse #2 and recommended that Sergeant #1 be taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital by state van due to reporting of being dizzy, numbness and tingling in both arms and elevated pulse. Both staff members received workman comp packets. Officer #1 and Sergeant #1 was transported to the Good Samaritan Hospital emergency room in M.t Vernon, IL.

* From a DEA fact sheet on synthetic cannabis…

What are its overdose effects?

Severe adverse effects have been attributed to the abuse of synthetic cannabinoids, including nausea, vomiting, agitation, anxiety, seizures, stroke, coma, and death by heart attack or organ failure.

But that suggests high dosage. Simply smelling smoke from what may or may not be a synthetic cannabinoid, or touching a piece of paper that might have come into contact with a synthetic cannabinoid sends you to the hospital? If that’s so, then why were only a few staff members in these examples hospitalized?

* To be clear here, I have enormous respect for IDOC officers. They have an impossible job and I’m thankful for their service. Just click those links above to see what they face every day. My hat is off to them.

What I’m saying is that a few officers might be experiencing panic attacks and are putting the entire correctional system at risk.

And as I said many months ago, IDOC needs to do a much better job of training workers about the actual risks of their jobs and what will and will not harm them.

My one truism in life is that every labor problem is the fault of management. IDOC needs to get its act together here.