Rescue Essentials was recently selected as a preferred vendor on the new Department of Homeland Security Blanket Purchase Agreement Program. Rescue Essentials is a manufacturer and distributor of pre-hospital emergency medical supplies and kits, begun in Salida as a startup business in 2007. Its initial focus on Wilderness Medicine has since broadened into Tactical Medical Kits and Training. The DHS Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) that the Company was awarded makes Rescue Essentials one of only four companies authorized to provide Trauma and First Aid kits to DHS agencies. It is a five year agreement, and Rescue Essentials expects to fulfill orders valued at millions of dollars over the term of the BPA. While the Company sees this as a natural progression of their past growth trajectory, it does represent a quantum jump in their ability to address the needs of DHS agencies with whom they have dealt in the past. Rescue Essentials currently employs between 15 and 20 local people at any given time. Almost all of their revenue comes from outside the immediate area contributing to positive growth for the local economy.