COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Corrections authorities in Ohio and Pennsylvania on Wednesday investigated inmate and staff exposure to drugs and chemicals in what appeared to be unrelated incidents that nevertheless underscored the continuing issue of contraband drugs inside the nation's prisons and jails. 
 
 In Pennsylvania, the state prisons were on a lockdown precipitated by 29 employees at 10 prisons requiring treatment in recent weeks from exposure to a yet-unidentified substance described in some cases as a liquid synthetic drug. 
 
 The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced the step Wednesday, the same day that about a half-dozen staff at Somerset and Albion state prisons reported feeling ill. Symptoms include dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea and skin tingling. 
 
 In Ohio, prison guards, nurses and inmates were among the nearly 30 people treated for possible drug exposure inside Ross Correctional Institution. The incident began around 9 a.m. Wednesday when an inmate showed signs of a possible drug overdose, said patrol spokesman Lt. Robert Sellers. 
 
 As officers and medical responders arrived, a total of 28 individuals, including 23 guards, four nurses and an inmate, were treated through the administration of naloxone, a drug used to combat overdoses caused by opioids such as heroin or fentanyl, Sellers said. They were taken to Adena Regional Medical Center in Chillicothe for evaluation. 
 
 At the hospital, Dr. Kirk Tucker said the symptoms were consistent with exposure to fentanyl. He said an inmate was unconscious and not breathing on his own when he was admitted to the hospital Wednesday but was expected to be fine. 
 
 Most other patients experienced nausea, sweating, numbness, and drowsiness. Tucker said the sickest individuals were those who responded to the inmate's bedside. 
 
 One Ohio inmate was treated at the scene and not transported. Sellers said the patrol made 300 doses of naloxone available if needed. The prison is about 44 miles (71 kilometers) south of Columbus. Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration were among those investigating with the Ohio state patrol, said DEA spokesman Wade Sparks. 
 
 Contraband fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is suspected, possibly dispersed into the air by a fan, said Sellers, who emphasized investigators were still trying to determine exactly what happened. 
 
 Fentanyl is considered several times more powerful than heroin, and has been linked to thousands of overdose deaths nationwide, sometimes on its own, but often mixed with heroin. Law enforcement officers routinely now put on gloves when responding to overdoses to avoid possible exposure. 
 
 On Thursday, the DEA plans to release a new training video covering protections that first responders should take when the presence of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, is suspected. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was to announce the video, "Fentanyl: The Real Deal," at a Washington news conference. 
 
 A total of 31 inmates were evacuated from the unit where the Ohio prison exposure occurred, and a hazmat team from the Columbus fire department was summoned to clean up the affected area. 
 
 In Ohio, contraband drugs including opioids are an ongoing issue for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and county jails. 
 
 In May, a former milk deliveryman was accused of hiding marijuana, tobacco and cellphones inside milk cartons and smuggling them into a prison in southwest Ohio. He was sentenced to house arrest. 
 
 In September 2017, the Richland County Jail in Mansfield started operating a body scanner to detect drugs. Officials there monitored 26 opioid-related withdrawals in July 2017. 
 
 In February 2017, four inmates overdosed in two days at Pickaway Correctional Institution south of Columbus, requiring the use of CPR and doses of an anti-overdose drug as guards scrambled to revive the men. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report. 
 
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 Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus. ||||| (CNN) A mixture of heroin and fentanyl left more than two dozen people sick Wednesday at the Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe, Ohio, officials said. 
 
 Authorities responded to the prison after reports that 29 people -- including 23 prison guards, four nurses and one inmate -- were overcome after being exposed to a substance, according to the state highway patrol. They were taken to Adena Regional Medical Center, the highway patrol's statement said. 
 
 "Several doses of Narcan were administered to victims, and an additional 300 Narcan doses are available at the facility," the statement said. 
 
 Narcan is commonly used to treat opioid overdoses. 
 
 The statement said the incident started with a report of an inmate with possible signs of a drug overdose. 
 
 Read More ||||| VARNER SUPERMAX: Two more drug-related deaths today. 
 
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 Two more inmates died this morning at theprison unit, the fourth and fifth deaths since Sunday as a result of suspected. A prison official also confirmed about a dozen inmates had been treated earlier in the week for drug reactions, though none required hospitalization.Correction Department attorney, identified the inmates who died today as26, serving a 10-year sentence for robbery from Sebastian County, and, 55, serving a life sentence from Pulaski County for robbery and other charges. Both were found unresponsive in cells, which weren't near each other, and later pronounced dead — Cobbs at 5:50 a.m. and Harris at 6:33 a.m.The State Police was notified to investigate."We will not be surprised if it was drugs," DePriest said, though no firm conclusions will be drawn until State Police and medical examiner reviews are completed. This follows three suspected drug deaths at Varner Sunday and Monday , two of them in the Supermax unit.DePriest also said about a dozen inmates received medical attention Saturday and Sunday. "It's fair to say we suspect these were drug-related sicknesses." The same holds true for today's deaths, but exactly what substance isn't known nor is it known if all the deaths and illness come from the same batch of drugs.DePriest acknowledged the prison's long struggle to restrict access and use of K2, a dangerous and hard-to-detect form of synthetic marijuana. It has installed new body scanners for visitors and staff, restricted outside mail because small amounts of the subject can be dissolved in liquid and soaked in paper and posted warnings about the dangers of the drug and promise of arrest if it is found."This is of great concern to us," he said. He said the department had thought it was making strides in controllingof K2, after a bad year in 2017, when K2 incidents averaged 100 a month and somewhere around 15 deaths were attributed to K2, DePriest said.He said that the department, systemwide, had counted 153 K2 incidents in the first quarter of this year, 225 in the second and 90 so far this quarter. An incident is counted as the discovery of the substance or the appearance of an inmate being under the influence. The East Arkansas unit has the most cases. Varner has had a total of 32 incidents this year, not counting the deaths, DePriest said, and the spate of illnesses over the weekend."It's extremely important to us to find out how this happened," DePriest said.
– Four nurses, 23 prison guards, and an inmate were sickened Wednesday at Ross Correctional Institute in Ohio, and officials believe the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl may be to blame, CNN reports. The incident began around 9am when an inmate showed signs of a possible drug overdose; 29 people ended up sickened, with the sickest individuals being those who responded to his bedside, the AP reports. They were treated with naloxone, a drug used to combat opioid overdoses. A doctor says the symptoms victims experienced—including nausea, sweating, numbness, and drowsiness—were consistent with fentanyl exposure. Officials believe contraband fentanyl may have been dispersed in the air by a fan, but the incident is still under investigation. In an apparently unrelated incident, state prisons were on lockdown in Pennsylvania after 29 people in 10 prisons over the course of recent weeks required treatment after exposure to an as-yet-unidentified substance. Victims have reported symptoms after being exposed to what is in some cases described as a liquid synthetic drug. And in Arkansas, five inmates at Varner Supermax have died since Sunday after suspected drug use, the Arkansas Times reports. About a dozen others have received medical attention, and though examinations are still ongoing, officials suspect K2, a dangerous form of synthetic pot, may be involved.