[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 24 (Thursday, March 7, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S1677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CARNAHAN:
  S. 1997. A bill to require a pilot program to assess the adoption of 
the Air Force Expeditionary Medical Support System by the Air National 
Guard; to the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mrs. CARNAHAN. Mr. President, as the last few months have shown, 
America's citizen soldiers and airmen are vital to Homeland Security.
  Air Guard fighter pilots have patrolled the skies over our largest 
cities. Army Guard units police our air terminals and ports of entry.
  These brave men and women stand sentry over our Nation. They are 
making America safer.
  But we must be ready to respond if terrorists again succeed in 
bringing harm to American people. We must be ready to rescue the 
victims, care for the sick, and aid the injured. This will take 
cooperation from every level of government--local, State, and Federal 
agencies.
  Dr. Jeffery Lowell is the St. Louis Mayor's Chief of a special team 
called the Medical Critical Incident Response Group. He is responsible 
for determining how the region's 30-plus hospitals will provide medical 
aid to the 2\1/2\ million residents of the St. Louis metropolitan area.
  Dr. Lowell reports only that 70 to 80 critical care beds are 
available at any one time. But we need to prepare for the possibility 
that an attack could generate hundreds, perhaps thousands, of injuries.
  Additionally, the entire St. Louis metropolitan area does not have 
enough emergency responders to care for so many victims. Help would 
need to come from other cities, other States. This would take time, 
many hours, even days. In situations like this, lost time means lost 
lives.
  There is an answer to this problem, and it involves the same Guard 
men and women I mentioned earlier.
  The answer is the Expeditionary Medical System, or EMEDS. EMEDS is a 
new rapid response medical system. It was created by the Air Force to 
rush its medics with blazing speed anywhere in the world they are 
needed, at a moment's notice.
  Our military relies on this life-saving capability during wartime, 
but it could prove just as valuable to the civilian community here, in 
America.
  The legislation I am introducing today would establish an EMEDS 
program in the Air Guard. This bill gives the Air Guard an EMEDS 
program so that we are prepared for any disaster or attack on the home 
front, as our troops have been on the war front.
  Our Guard soldiers and airmen pride themselves on being light, lean, 
and lethal. EMEDS will make our Guard medics light, lean, and life-
saving, able to react within minutes to an attack.
  The new equipment and training that EMEDS would provide the Guard 
will allow it to respond to attacks or disasters within minutes. And 
once on site, Guard EMEDS will be able to remain there for days without 
re-supply, they are self-sustaining. They would assist local 
responders.
  EMEDS will care for sick, provide emergency medicine to wounded, even 
perform life-saving surgery. Additionally, Guard EMEDS would be able to 
perform in a biological, chemical, or radiological warfare environment.
  If the pilot program is successful, I would hope each State's Guard 
will acquire EMEDS capability. America needs this capability as its 
citizens grapple with the emerging threats facing them within the 
United States.
  The National Guard is the perfect organization to provide Americans 
this valuable homeland defense initiative.
  This bill is supported by the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General as well 
as several other national military organizations such as the Air Force 
Sergeants Association, National Guard Association and the Air Force 
Association.
  I am proud to offer this bill. Guard EMEDS is a ground-breaking 
initiative. This first step toward ensuring that each State, through 
its Guard units, can medically respond to disasters and terrorist 
attacks with live-saving immediacy.
  I believe this measure is of vital importance to our national 
security.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill's passage.
                                 ______