HARRISBURG — Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge suffered a stroke Wednesday at his home in suburban Washington, D.C., a longtime aide to the former Pennsylvania governor said.

Ridge was taken by ambulance from the home in Bethesda, Md., to a hospital for treatment, Ridge spokesman Steve Aaron said. Ridge was conscious upon arrival at the hospital and underwent a procedure that removed a blood clot, Aaron said.

He described Ridge as being in critical but stable condition.

The Ridge family wishes to share the following news about Tom. pic.twitter.com/o2IyIsYL0d

— Gov. Tom Ridge (@GovRidge) June 16, 2021

Ridge, 75, was Pennsylvania’s Republican governor from 1995 to 2001, when he joined the administration of President George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 to become the country’s first homeland security secretary.

At the Department of Homeland Security, Ridge headed a sprawling department that was composed of 22 agencies and some 180,000 employees.

His efforts there included establishing a system of color-coded terror alerts, and his advocacy for “disaster kits” in 2003 triggered a run on duct tape and plastic sheeting.

More recently he has led Ridge Global, a firm that consults on cyber security, international security and risk management.

Ridge suffered a heart attack at an Austin, Texas, in November 2017. He had been in Texas to attend a Republican Governors Association conference when he summoned medical help to his hotel.

Ridge is a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War. He was a county prosecutor and six-term congressman from Erie before being elected Pennsylvania governor in 1994.

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