Second state corrections officer was sickened

A second officer at State Correctional Institution Fayette was hospitalized for treatment Saturday after coming into contact with an inmate who was believed to have been under the influence of an unknown substance.

The officer escorted an in mate to the prison’s medical department around 9:50 p.m. Shortly afterward, the officer developed “bumps across his front hairline” and was found to have elevated blood pressure, according to a news release issued Sunday by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.

The officer was taken to Uniontown Hospital for treatment. He was discharged at 1:40 a.m. Sunday and returned to the prison to finish his shift at 3:20 a.m., according to the statement.

The prison had been on lockdown earlier Saturday when another officer was sickened and given an opioid-reversal drug after checking a cell.

The officer’s face became flushed and his heart rate elevated, according to Susan McNaughton, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman. He also was taken to Uniontown Hospital, where he was treated and then released.

Earlier last week, Ms. McNaughton issued a news release saying the department is “taking aggressive measures to address new threats to staff and inmate safety” in the state prison system particularly in light of “illicit, harmful substances and the violence that can be connected to their illegal trade.”

Since the beginning of August, the corrections department reported that 18 staff members at three institutions in Western Pennsylvania were sickened after being exposed to an unknown substance.