On March 22, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unveiled its newest effort in the fight to properly equip the country?s emergency responders. The Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program (CEDAP) will provide both equipment and training free of charge to smaller jurisdictions.

Though DHS has been providing massive amounts of grant funding to major metropolitan areas, through programs like the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), many smaller jurisdictions lack the funds and the training needed to equip their emergency response teams properly. The CEDAP program will allow responders to choose, from a list, a piece of equipment they would like to be trained on. A representative of that jurisdiction will be fully trained on the piece of equipment they chose. That equipment will have arrived at their station by the time training has been completed.