Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse (HDER) Program

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP), in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Asset Utilization, has recently launched a nation-wide program to provide surplus radiological detection instrumentation, personal protection equipment, and other equipment of interest, along with associated training and technical support, to emergency responder agencies nationwide in an effort to enhance their domestic preparedness capabilities.  The HDER Program provides first responder agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Territories with access to a substantial inventory of equipment (such as hand-held dose rate meters, G-M probes, dosimeters, and respirators) no longer required by the Federal government.

The primary objective of the HDER Program is to provide front-line emergency responders, including local fire-fighters and police, with the skills and equipment to identify whether a radiological hazard may exist, quickly establish control perimeters if above background levels of radiation are detected, and support a more rapid and effective response by trained HAZMAT/ radiological emergency teams to the incident. 

The equipment provided through HDER is first rehabilitated by DOE, and then provided by DHS at no cost to state and local recipients.  In addition, on-site training for many of the equipment items is available at no cost to recipients through the ODP's Domestic Preparedness Equipment Technical Assistance Program (DPETAP).  Local long-term support for this equipment is also available to the recipient at no cost through a partnership with the Health Physics Society (HPS).  Volunteers from local HPS chapters are available to recipients of HDER equipment to perform field checks and basic maintenance on the equipment, provide hands-on refresher training if required, and to serve as a local source of expertise regarding the instrumentation.

A complete description of the HDER Program, and the DPETAP training opportunities, may be obtained from the DHS-ODP website at:  http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp  under "What's New".  In addition, a list of the state points of contact (POCs) for the HDER program is provided below.  CRCPD members are encouraged to make contact with the POC in their state to offer assistance in the identification of requirements and appropriate equipment types, and to serve as a resource on state policies, procedures, and protocols related to radiation safety.

Text provided by: Kerry L. Thomas, Director, Information Management, Technical Assistance and Preparedness Support Division, State and Local Operations Directorate, Office for Domestic Preparedness, US Department of Homeland Security