WILLIAMSTOWN, Ky. — Officials said six employees at the Grant County Detention Center, including jailer Mike Webster, received Narcan after "exposure to an unknown substance."
The jail said Webster, four deputy jailers and one nurse were exposed to the unknown substance while responding to a medical emergency in a cell. The six employees and an inmate received Narcan and were treated for an overdose.
Kentucky State Police and the Grant County Sheriff's Office are helping investigate the situation, the jail said.
"Very scary for everybody involved," said Brian Maines, Grant County Sheriff.
Maines said the situation was routine until paramedics got an inmate onto an ambulance stretcher.
"One of the deputies was directed to grab his belongings. As he started gathering his belongings, he picked up a plastic bag," Maines said. "At that point within probably about 30 seconds he began to feel like he was losing his breath, lightheaded and actually went down — didn't become unresponsive."
More deputies, the jailer and a nurse started experiencing these symptoms too, according to officials. Some dropped down to sit against a wall.
"Never been in that type of situation where I had seven different people all affected within 10 minutes," said Williamstown Fire Chief Les Whalen.
Both Whalen and Maines said they don't often have these types of apparent overdoses with inmates in cells. They said it's usually someone who's been arrested recently.
This brings up the issue of how this substance got into the hands of the inmate. It's part of what the sheriff's office is investigating.
As for those taken to the hospital after coming into contact with the substance, Maines said they were all released from the hospital within an hour or two.
"The deputies just described it as something they never want to go through again," Maines said. "They lost portions of their memory in between. Some of them don't remember being taken out of the jail to the hospital."
Maines also said there will be a debrief with all of the agencies involved.
