By David Madden

TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) - A $3 million federal grant has led to a major upgrade in equipment for New Jersey’s Office of Emergency Management.

The state now has three sets of state of the art communications equipment to be deployed in the event of a disaster, natural or man made.

Emergency Management spokeswoman Mary Goepfert says the agency will no longer be tied down to trailers.

“They are mobile and portable. That way when an event happens, we have the flexibility to go out to different areas of the state where it might be needed,” Goepfert explains.

Sometimes terrain and conditions don’t allow for use of bulkier equipment.

The units will also be deployed for large scale public events in an effort to train local emergency responders on how to use them.