diff --git a/lambdas/producer/producer_lambda.py b/lambdas/producer/producer_lambda.py
index b8ca5d1..2bfb4c7 100644
--- a/lambdas/producer/producer_lambda.py
+++ b/lambdas/producer/producer_lambda.py
@@ -3,11 +3,12 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 from typing import Any
 
-import aioboto3
-import aio_pika
+import boto3
+import pika
 import httpx
 import redis
 import redis.exceptions
+from pika.exceptions import AMQPConnectionError, UnroutableError
 from rdflib import Graph
 from tqdm import tqdm
 import xmltodict
@@ -16,19 +17,23 @@
 from hml_reader.settings import Settings
 
 
-async def get_rabbitmq_creds():
+def get_rabbitmq_creds() -> tuple[str, str, str]:
     secret_arn = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_SECRET_ARN")
     rabbit_mq_endpoint = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_ENDPOINT")
-    region = os.getenv("AWS_REGION", "us-east-1")
+    region     = os.getenv("AWS_REGION", "us-east-1")
 
-    session = aioboto3.Session()
-    async with session.client("secretsmanager", region_name=region) as client: # type: ignore
-        secret_value = await client.get_secret_value(SecretId=secret_arn)
-        secret = json.loads(secret_value["SecretString"])
-        return secret["username"], secret["password"], rabbit_mq_endpoint
+    if secret_arn is None:
+        raise ValueError("Cannot find RABBITMQ_SECRET_ARN")
+    if rabbit_mq_endpoint is None:
+        raise ValueError("Cannot find RABBITMQ_ENDPOINT")
 
+    client = boto3.client("secretsmanager", region_name=region)
+    secret_value = client.get_secret_value(SecretId=secret_arn)
+    secret = json.loads(secret_value["SecretString"])
+    return secret["username"], secret["password"], rabbit_mq_endpoint
 
-async def get_settings():
+
+def get_settings():
     return Settings()
 
 def fetch_weather_products() -> list[Any]:
@@ -70,56 +75,65 @@ def fetch_weather_products() -> list[Any]:
         else:
             raise httpx.HTTPError(f"Error fetching data: {response.status_code}")
 
-async def publish(channel: aio_pika.channel, hml: HML, settings: Settings) -> None:
+def publish(channel, hml, settings) -> None:
     if not channel:
         raise RuntimeError(
             "Message could not be sent as there is no RabbitMQ Connection"
         )
-    async with channel.transaction():
-        msg = hml.json().encode()
-        try:
-            await channel.default_exchange.publish(
-                aio_pika.Message(body=msg),
-                routing_key=settings.flooded_data_queue,
-                mandatory=True
-            )
-        except aio_pika.exceptions.DeliveryError as e:
-            raise e("Message rejected")
+    
+    msg = hml.model_dump_json().encode()
+    try:
+        channel.basic_publish(
+            exchange='',
+            routing_key=settings.flooded_data_queue,
+            body=msg,
+            properties=pika.BasicProperties(
+                delivery_mode=2,
+            ),
+            mandatory=True
+        )
+    except UnroutableError as e:
+        raise RuntimeError("Message rejected") from e
                 
 
-async def lambda_handler(event, context):
+def lambda_handler(event, context):
     print("Producer Lambda triggered")
 
-    user, pwd, rabbit_mq_endpoint = await get_rabbitmq_creds()
-    
-    connection = await aio_pika.connect_robust(
-        f"amqp://{user}:{pwd}@{rabbit_mq_endpoint}/",
-        heartbeat=30
-    )
-    settings = await get_settings()
+    user, pwd, rabbit_mq_endpoint = get_rabbitmq_creds()
+    settings = get_settings()
 
-    async with connection:
-        channel = await connection.channel(publisher_confirms=False)
-        await channel.declare_queue(
+    creds = pika.PlainCredentials(user, pwd)
+    try:
+        conn = pika.BlockingConnection(pika.ConnectionParameters(
+            host=rabbit_mq_endpoint,
+            credentials=creds,
+            heartbeat=30,
+            blocked_connection_timeout=300,
+        ))
+        channel = conn.channel()
+        channel.queue_declare(
             settings.flooded_data_queue,
             durable=True
         )
-        print("Successfully connected to RabbitMQ")
-        hml_data = fetch_weather_products()
-        try:
-            r = redis.Redis(
-                host=settings.redis_url,
-                port=settings.redis_port,
-                decode_responses=True
-            )
-            hml_data = sorted(hml_data, key=lambda x: datetime.fromisoformat(x["issuanceTime"]))
-            for hml in tqdm(hml_data, desc="reading through api.weather.gov HML outputs"):
-                hml_id = hml["id"]
-                if r.get(hml_id) is None:
-                    hml_obj = HML(**hml)
-                    await publish(channel, hml_obj, settings)
-                    r.set(hml_id, hml_obj.json())
-                    r.expire(hml_id, 604800)  # exires after a week
-        except redis.exceptions.ConnectionError as e:
-            raise e("Cannot run Redis service") 
+    except AMQPConnectionError as e:
+        print(f"RabbitMQ connection error: {e}")
+        raise RuntimeError("Cannot connect to RabbitMQ service") from e
+    print("Successfully connected to RabbitMQ")
+    hml_data = fetch_weather_products()
+    try:
+        r = redis.Redis(
+            host=settings.redis_url,
+            port=settings.redis_port,
+            decode_responses=True
+        )
+        hml_data = sorted(hml_data, key=lambda x: datetime.fromisoformat(x["issuanceTime"]))
+        for hml in tqdm(hml_data, desc="reading through api.weather.gov HML outputs"):
+            hml_id = hml["id"]
+            if r.get(hml_id) is None:
+                hml_obj = HML(**hml)
+                publish(channel, hml_obj, settings)
+                r.set(hml_id, hml_obj.model_dump_json())
+                r.expire(hml_id, 604800)  # exires after a week
+    except redis.exceptions.ConnectionError as e:
+        raise e("Cannot run Redis service") 
     return {"status": "ok"}
diff --git a/lambdas/producer/pyproject.toml b/lambdas/producer/pyproject.toml
index 6c6c4e2..2c5552c 100644
--- a/lambdas/producer/pyproject.toml
+++ b/lambdas/producer/pyproject.toml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ authors = [
 dependencies = [
     "pydantic==2.7.1",
     "httpx==0.27.0",
-    "aio-pika==9.4.3",
+    "pika==1.3.2",
     "pydantic-settings==2.3.4",
     "aioboto3==15.1.0",
     "aio-pika==9.4.3",