A Northeast Tennessee state senator had to be removed from a floor session on Monday after suffering a medical episode. Senator Steve Southerland, who represents parts of Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Sevier, and Unicoi Counties, was attended to by emergency personnel at the statehouse in Nashville before being rushed to an area hospital. Adam Kleinheider, a spokesperson for the Senate speaker’s office, said Southerland was alert when he was taken away by an ambulance. His condition today is not immediately clear.