Ruppersberger Announces Fort Meade Will Continue With Full EMS Service Until June 1st

Washington, DC - Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) and Congressman Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Congressman Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) are pleased to announce that Fort Meade has decided to continue full EMS Service until June 1, 2004. This move gives the Army time to reconsider its decision to cut medical services at Fort Meade and gives Anne Arundel County more time to study the full scope of the potential impact.

Fort Meade is the home of military families and government agencies - including the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Security Service (DSS), and several Guard and Reserve Units.

"I commend the leaders at Fort Meade and in Anne Arundel County for working together in the best interest of the people they serve. I will continue to help in any way I can. In the post 9-11 world that we live in, it is critically important that we give our first responders the resources they need to keep us safe. This is not the time to be cutting funding and slashing EMS Service at Fort Meade," said Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD).

"I am pleased that the decision has been made to delay the reduction of EMS to the Ft. Meade Campus. I hope that we will see a permanent reversal of the decision. We should be increasing homeland security to major military/intelligence facilities, not reducing it," said Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-3rd), a member of the Homeland Security Committee.

The Department of the Army had decided to reduce EMS service on evenings, weekends, and holidays beginning Monday, April 5, 2004. Right now EMS Service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Army intends to cut that service to Monday through Friday from 6 am to 9 pm with no coverage on holidays. During off hours, those who live and work at Ft. Meade will have to rely on emergency services from the EMS unit in Jessup. The trip to the base could take more than 15 minutes and response times could be longer if there is a security alert.

Congressman Ruppersberger and Congressman Cardin sent a joint letter to the Acting Secretary of Defense Les Brownlee yesterday asking him not to reduce EMS Service. "Continued EMS service for Ft. Meade and NSA is vital to the operations of these installations. It is unacceptable to have vital national security personnel at risk because of a delay in getting EMS service to the base... We need to enhance the resources available to our rescue personnel, not eliminate or diminish them... Anne Arundel County cannot be expected to assume the responsibility being abandoned by the U.S. Army," read the letter.

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