Hazmat, bomb squad called to Bay County prison

PANAMA CITY —The mailroom of the Bay Correctional Facility on Bayline Drive was locked down Tuesday morning and afternoon as a precaution after an employee reported a skin rash and difficulty breathing.

According to a statement from the GEO Group, who manages the Bay Correctional & Rehabilitation Facility, the employee was taken to Bay Medical Center, where she is in stable condition and is under observation.

Joby Smith, Emergency Management Division Chief for Bay County, said they responded to the facility around 10:30 a.m. and began taking samples from the mailroom. They finished at about 2:00 p.m. and did not find anything.

"There's no connection that we have right now with anything that happened here and her reaction," said Smith, adding that they were responding as part of an abundance of caution. "It's better for us to come in and clear the building before they go back to normal operations."

As part of their testing, Hazmat collected air samples and physical samples with equipment that can analyze the chemical makeup of substances, Smith said. The incident was isolated to the mailroom, and no inmates or other staff were moved.

The Bay County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad also assisted as a precaution, along with about half a dozen EMS ambulances to assist the Hazmat team.