What entity provides responders with info on standards, grants, and emergency equipment?

TheResponder Knowledge Base (RKB)was established specifically to serve as a "one-stop shop" for the first responder community to find information regarding emergency equipment, applicable standards, and available grant funding.7Originally hosted through a partnership between FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the RKB was designed to help state and local agencies make informed purchasing decisions. It linked equipment items (such as chemical detectors or PPE) directly to theAuthorized Equipment List (AEL), which is the master list of items allowed to be purchased with federal grant money.

WhileSAVER(Option A) is a program that provides specific technical evaluations and "validation" of equipment performance (essentially a "Consumer Reports" for responders), it is theRKB(Option B) that provides the broader database encompassing standards and grant eligibility information.Preparedness Technical Assistance(Option C) usually refers to direct consultative services provided to jurisdictions to help them build specific capabilities, rather than a searchable database of equipment and standards.

For theCEDPprofessional, utilizing the RKB (or its current successor platforms like the FEMA Preparedness Toolkit) is essential for ensuring that equipment purchases are "compliant." For example, if a department wants to buy new SCBAs (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus), the RKB would provide the NFPA standards the equipment must meet and the specific grant program (like the Assistance to Firefighters Grant) that could fund the purchase. This ensures that taxpayer money is spent on high-quality, interoperable equipment that meets the rigorous demands of disaster response.