LANSING - Meridian Township was on of the six fire departments from the Greater Lansing Area that recently announced they received over a million dollars from the Competitive Grant Assistance Program.

The money will also help install new programs and purchase ballistics protection, tactical gear, cardiac monitors, automatic CPR machines, and other equipment.

$793,000 will go towards training responders to handle a school shooting or another form of an active violence incident.

"Since the Columbine High School Shooting, we have documented 900 attempts for an active shooter or a violent situation try to occur in a public arena to take lives. Some were successful and some weren't successful," said Meridian Township Fire Chief Fred Cowper.

The Blue Card Instant Command System is designed to enhance joint training, said Bill Priese, EMS and training chief of the Meridian Township Fire Department.

"The nice thing it'll do is it won't matter if Meridian firefighters are helping with a fire in East Lansing or Lansing or Delhi Township because the command structure is all going to be the same," Priese said. "It is quite expensive to take care of and do especially when you got as many people in the region that we are going to try to put through it."

Priese said the two training centers for the region are in Delhi and Delta Townships.

"The Blue Card Instant Command System provides a platform that is similar across all agencies for operations in emergency scenes," said Delta Township Fire Chief John Clark. "So the incident command is taught the same language as the fire fighters and FEOs."

The Michigan Department of Treasury funds grants through the CGAP. This year, more than $6.6 million was awarded to 16 local units of government across Michigan in the second round of Fiscal Year 2014 funding.

According the the Michigan Department of Treasury, the CGAP has helped offset local government costs associated with mergers, consolidations, inter-local agreements, and cooperative efforts among municipalities, authorities, and school districts.