Union officials say opioids endanger guards, want protocols changed
EDMONTON — Union officials say opioids are spreading to prisons and that’s putting prison guards at risk.
Jason Godin, president of the Union of Correctional Services, tells CTV News that officers can come into contact with fentanyl in a number of ways, such as doing first aid on an inmate who has overdosed, by handling mail and by conducting searches.
Godin says back in mid-July at the maximum-security Edmonton Institution, six officers were exposed to the potentially deadly opioid.
Two of those were taken to hospital, and another had to be given naloxone, a medication to reverse an opioid overdose.