In Thomson, Illinois, a scary and all-too-familiar situation happened again — a federal prison worker had to be rushed to the hospital after being exposed to a dangerous substance hidden in the mail.
It all started when the staff member at Thomson Prison came into contact with an unknown material while handling mail. Moments later, they began vomiting and eventually passed out. Their coworkers had to act fast, using emergency Narcan to revive them before rushing them to a local hospital for more treatment.
Jon Zumkher, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 4070, said this isn’t the first time this has happened. In just the last six months, there have been eight similar incidents. According to him, the problem lies in how drugs are making their way into prisons through the postal system.
“It’s coming straight through the post office and into federal prisons,” Zumkher explained. “People need to understand that drugs are literally being trafficked through the mail, and it’s putting prison staff in serious danger.”
To help stop this, a bipartisan bill was reintroduced on February 7. If passed, it would move prison mail processing to off-site locations where it could be scanned for drugs and other hazardous materials before ever reaching prison staff. The bill would also provide funding for proper staff training to handle mail more safely.
Zumkher said the support for this bill is strong, especially from Quad City-area representatives in Washington like Eric Sorensen and Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The goal is to protect federal prison workers, not just at Thomson but across the entire Federal Bureau of Prisons.
For now, though, the risk remains high — and every shift brings the fear of another dangerous exposure.
