Personal Emergency Preparedness Course (PEP)

You are your own first responder. During a major disaster, emergency workers will be performing life-saving action throughout the city. It may take time to reach you.

It is important for you to know what external hazards affect our community and to identify hazards within your home. Our Personal Emergency Preparedness (PEP) Course is great for individuals who need some place to start in their preparedness process. It provides the foundation for you to better support yourself and your household.

Ready, Oakland?

We are hosting six PEP training classes in 2026. Tell a friend and register to complete the course together. Our goal is to present this class in a variety of neighborhoods throughout Oakland and we are looking for hosts in your neighborhood. If you are interested in hosting us in your neighborhood, please email us.

PEP Class Schedule

Our PEP presentations will occur on the following dates:

February 26, 10AM - East Oakland Senior Center
April 8, 4:30PM - Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
June - TBD, we have a host pending
August - TBD, AVAILABLE FOR HOSTING
October - TBD, we have a host pending
December - TBD, AVAILABLE FOR HOSTING

If you would like to host us for one of these sessions please email us!

Download & Share PEP Training Flyer(JPG, 427KB)

Host A PEP Training for your Neighborhood!

The information below will help you organize and host Oakland PEP training for your community and ensure your neighborhood emergency preparedness training is a success!

Important information to communicate to your team:

As a Host Neighborhood, you are responsible for:

Leading/directing the coordination between EMSD and the facility that you select as the training location.
Liaising between EMSD/Neighborhood Services/your city council representative's office and any other orgs/agencies you would like to involve/include.
Promoting the training opportunity in your neighborhood/district.
Liaising between EMSD and residents from your neighborhood/district that are interested in attending.

Host Venue Guidelines

All PEP presentations must meet our guidelines for an appropriate environment so that we can offer the best experience possible. Please contact a coordinator for full details.

Some highlights include:

Facility must be accessible for individuals with access and functional needs (example: wheelchair accessible restrooms)
Facility should accommodate approximately 50 individuals (bigger is great)
It is strongly preferred that the facility is accessible by some form of public transportation and reasonable parking is available
ALL training sessions will be open to the members of the public; we do not offer private sessions of the PEP presentation
If a business or community organization's facilities is used, no active solicitation of services nor recruitment is allowed
The City of Oakland and the Oakland Fire Department are unable to reimburse costs related to the room reservation
Facility should have power and chairs available; Ready Oakland is able to provide a projector and screens if the room is not equipped with audio/visual equipment

Examples of acceptable venues include:

Library community room
Local school auditorium or classroom
Apartment or condo common rooms
Fellowship halls
Community Centers
Meeting rooms of a business or place of worship (no active advertising or recruitment is permitted)
Hotel or restaurant banquet room

10 Ways EMSD/OFD can support your mission

EMSD can help you get your community ready by:

Providing the PEP training curriculum
Scheduling/booking the PEP training instructors
Providing the PEP training supplies
Providing the PEP training participant giveaways
Publishing information online that confirms you/your site as the host location
Publishing information online that describes this meeting as having a focus on your community's unique composition
Publishing information online that confirms that translation and other information and access services will be available
Coordinating the language and access services – advanced notice/coordination is required.
Managing the course registration process for you
Providing a basic template to help you promote your class

Email the Oakland PEP Training Coordinator

About

The Emergency Management Services Division (EMSD) within the Oakland Fire Department. We are responsible for the City of Oakland's response, recovery, and mitigation to any hazard that affects our community.

One way we accomplish this is by offering this Personal Emergency Preparedness training. For more information about our work, as well as information on how to stay informed, prepare for disasters, or build your emergency plans, please check out our Ready Oakland pages.