Butler Co. jail fourth corrections facility in area to send officers to hospital this week

BUTLER, Pa. — Butler County Prison is the fourth corrections facility in our area to send staffers to the hospital this week.

Warden Joe DeMore told Channel 11 four officers and two nurses were exposed to an unknown substance, possibly K2, possibly laced with something. He said there are new safety measures they are working to implement immediately.

This comes after nearly a dozen workers and relatives of corrections officers at SCI Greene have reached out to Channel 11 with safety concerns after a recent exposure incident there.

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The Butler County Prison remains on lockdown Wednesday as DeMore waits for test results to come back. They are also trying to determine if the substance arrived in the mail for an inmate.

Among the measures he's taking are ordering new medical masks for officers to use during searches, new hazmat training and possibly a new mail policy.

In addition to SCI-Greene, staffers at state prisons Mercer and Fayette also encountered similar situations.

State Department of Corrections officials told Channel 11 they will be training in-house security teams in hazardous material response; offering enhanced training in the use of personal protective gear for all corrections officers, maintenance, and food staff; and increasing inventory of protective gear such as special gloves and respirators to ensure that staff have greater protection when handling potentially hazardous material.

Cox Media Group