Six people were sent Tuesday night from Butler County Prison to Butler Memorial Hospital after coming in contact with an unknown substance.

Warden Joe DeMore said three correctional officers were exposed to the substance. They were treated at the prison’s medical department showing symptoms of elevated heart rates and dizziness.

Two prison nurses who treated them and a fourth correctional officer began displaying the same symptoms and were deemed contaminated too.

All six were transported by ambulance to Butler Memorial Hospital.

Jana Panther, director of marketing and public relations, said a total of six people were transported to the hospital’s ER around 7:15 p.m. She said the patients finished with decontamination procedures by about 8 p.m.

“They’re being monitored,” Panther said.

Panther said it was unclear whether the emergency room was closed for any amount of time.

“If it was, it was brief,” she said.

Panther said Dave Rottinghaus, the director of emergency services, was not at the hospital at the time, but the decisions made in these situations are laid out in standard procedure protocols that anyone on staff can follow.

“It’s all hands on deck,” Panther said. “The team does a great job.”

County Sheriff Mike Slupe said he was briefed about the incident, but he did not respondto the prison. He said Demore, both deputy wardens and treatment supervisor Justin Baptiste responded to the prison.

“All ranking members of the prison are there,” Slupe said at about 8 p.m. “The process they have according to protocol is already in place, and everything is working the way it should.”

Slupe said DeMore advised him that prison officials would seek assistance from sheriff’s deputies, if needed.

DeMore said the three officers who were originally affected were all searching the same cell together on the third floor at one of the housing pods. By protocol, the inmates were removed from the cell during the search, and they did not display any symptoms.

DeMore said the two inmates who occupied that cell were moved to the restricted housing unit.

DeMore said the county hazmat team was called in and was still at the scene shortly before 9 p.m. He said he did not initially know if anything was found in the cell.

“There’s an internal investigation, and we will turn it over to the county detectives if warranted,” DeMore said.

DeMore said he did not rule out a substance known as K2 marijuana as the cause of the symptoms, based on recent incidents at SCI Mercer, SCI Fayette and Allegheny County Prison.

DeMore said his affected staff have a lot of support in their recovery.

“You never want to hear that any of your guys are taken to the hospital sick,” he said. “It’s concerning.”