Anamosa prisoner, staff sickened after exposure to unknown substance

ANAMOSA — A prisoner and three staff members at the Anamosa State Penitentiary were taken to the hospital Saturday night after being exposed to an “unknown substance” at the prison.

At about 11:30 p.m., security and medical staff responded to a medical emergency in one of the prison’s living units and found a prisoner unresponsive in his cell, according to a news release from the Iowa Department of Corrections.

“Although staff did not observe any obvious substances when they entered the cell, the inmate appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance,” the Corrections Department reported.

Staff administered Narcan, a drug that reverses a drug overdose by blocking the effects of opioids, but determined the prisoner needed to be taken to a hospital. They transported the prisoner to a hospital, where his condition stabilized. The Corrections Department has since returned him to Anamosa.

Three staff who responded to the emergency and “were also exposed to the unknown substance” became ill and were seen by the on-site medical team.

“Out of an abundance of caution, Narcan was administered to two of the three staff members and all three were transported via ambulance to the local hospital for observation,” the news release states. “The three staff members have since been released from the local hospital after their condition stabilized.”

Narcan, which has the generic name of naloxone, has no effect on people who are not experiencing an opioid overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The Corrections Department restricted movement at the prison Monday and prohibited visitors to allow a “large-scale search of the prison for illegal contraband” after two other incarcerated men were found unresponsive in their cells Sunday morning in, what the agency believes, is an unrelated incident.

In that case, staff administered Narcan, but the offenders did not need to be hospitalized and tested negative for illegal drugs, the Corrections Department reported. Medical staff who assisted these offenders did not become sick.

Investigators with the Department of Public Safety Narcotics Enforcement Division assessed the quarantined area and determined it is safe for re-entry. The Corrections Department will continue to work with Public Safety to conduct a full investigation.

The Anamosa penitentiary, opened in 1874, is the state’s oldest working prison. It houses about 900 medium-security offenders.

The Corrections Department decided in February to move most of the maximum-security offenders from Anamosa to the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. This decision followed the 2021 murders of two staff by two offenders who were trying to break out of the Anamosa prison.

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