(SBT24/7News) Fumes from paint used too close to the doors of the emergency room at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center Mishawaka apparently made some people ill Tuesday morning.

Six emergency room staff members became ill about 5:50 a.m. from sealant being applied to a concrete pad that leads into the emergency room, according to hospital spokesman Mike Stack.

The eyes of those overcome by the fumes were watering, and they were wheezing and vomiting, Stack said, adding that when he checked on them later, they were laughing and appeared OK.

One patient in the emergency room at the time was not affected, Stack said. One patient brought to the ER by ambulance was turned away and taken to a South Bend hospital.

Fans were put in the emergency room and the entrance and firefighters left the hospital around 8:30 a.m.

The Mishawaka emergency room remained open for walk-in patients, Stack said, but critical patients were being taken to South Bend. The emergency room reopened for all patients at 11 a.m.

The South Bend HazMat team responded to the call. One HazMat unit was reported to have gotten into an accident on the way to the scene at the corner of Logan and Lincoln Way. No one was hurt in the accident.

Mishawaka has a contract with South Bend that calls for the South Bend HazMat Team to assist Mishawaka.