Fwd: Learn skills to help your community before, during, and after disaster
Diane Tokugawa
Begin forwarded message:
From: City of Berkeley <ne...@news.berkeleyca.gov>
Date: December 16, 2025 at 5:01:08 PM PST
To: dtok...@comcast.net
Subject: Learn skills to help your community before, during, and after disaster
Sign up for disaster preparedness. Learn how to extinguish fires, rescue victims, perform first aid, and help others cope with stress.
December 16, 2025
SERVICES. RESOURCES. COMMUNITY.
News from the City of Berkeley
Learn skills to help your community before, during, and after disaster
Sign up for disaster preparedness classes to learn how to extinguish fires, rescue victims, perform first aid, and help others cope with stress.
Take emergency preparedness classes with fellow Berkeleyans to learn practical skills you can use in your neighborhoods before, during, and after disasters.
These classes include skills such as:
- Extinguishing fires
- Finding and rescuing victims using basic tools
- Performing basic first aid
- Helping survivors cope with the extreme stress
Take any one of these classes at the Fire Department’s training center in West Berkeley. You can also take all seven classes to complete the series to help increase your own resiliency, that of your neighborhood, and Berkeley as a whole.
Each of these 3-4-hour-long classes will be offered two times in person from January 8 to April 18, 2026, with evening and weekend sessions available.
Register for all classes via Eventbrite as soon as possible as spots fill up quickly.
Register for classes on Eventbrite
After a major disaster, first responders may have to first address more urgent priorities away from your neighborhood. Community Emergency Response Team training (CERT) teaches you how to take care of yourself, your family, and your community until first responders are able to assist.
Sign up to attend CERT classes in person at the Fire Department Division of Training, 997 Cedar Street.
Some classes build on previous topics and knowledge and require prerequisites from the series, so it is recommended to take the courses in order. Take each class once, either on a Thursday evening or Saturday morning.
Class openings are prioritized for first-time students. If you have signed up and cannot attend a class, cancel your Eventbrite reservation as soon as possible to open up a spot on the waitlist.
Unit 1: Disaster Preparedness
Learn about Berkeley’s disaster risks and get the key steps, guidance, and planning support you need to prepare yourself, your family, and your community.
Unit 2: Disaster Medical Operations I
Provide basic first aid for common injuries, and use simple, potentially life-saving interventions after a disaster.
Unit 3: Disaster Medical Operations II - (Prerequisite: Unit 2)
Build on your first-aid skills for treating a wide range of wounds and conditions.
Unit 4: Fire Safety and Utilities
Learn successful fire prevention strategies that can help your community in a disaster.
Unit 5: Disaster Mental Health
Learn how to help your community build emotional resilience for emergencies.
Unit 6: CERT Organization
Organize effective response teams and gather critical disaster information safely during an emergency.
Unit 7: Light Search and Rescue - (Prerequisites: Unit 3 and Unit 4)
Assist your community in finding disaster survivors safely.
Create community connections
By signing up for classes, you’ll also connect with a community of others dedicated to disaster preparedness. You’ll connect with the Berkeley Fire Department, other City staff, CERT instructors and trainees, and passionate neighbors.
Through your community connections and guidance from neighborhood CERT leaders, you will learn how to organize and support your friends, family, and neighbors in times of need.
In CERT classes, you will:
- Learn from experts and people with lived experience
- Collaborate with other Berkeley residents and neighbors
- Practice and feel confident in your ability to help others
Sign up for CERT classes to build emergency networks with others, know what to do during disasters, and stay connected.
Links
- Sign up for CERT classes (Eventbrite)
- Disaster Preparedness Trainings (City of Berkeley)
- Get updates from the Berkeley Ready newsletter (City of Berkeley)
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Reduce lithium-ion battery fire risk for electric skateboards, scooters, and bikes
Know how to safely care for, replace, and re-charge lithium batteries, which are common in household devices.
Berkeley has had eighteen fires linked to lithium-ion batteries involving e-skateboards, e-scooters, and e-bikes since 2023. Although incidents are down in the city, these dangerous fires continue to happen around the region and nation.
Simple tips can help keep you and your household safe:
- Use the original manufacturers’ chargers, batteries, or replacements and store them away from extreme heat, cold, and other flammable items.
- Charge batteries directly in an electrical wall outlet for only as long as it takes to reach a full charge, then disconnect from power source.
- Watch warning signs of battery overheating like swelling, leaking, odd noises, smoke, or unusual odors. If you see any of these, don’t touch the device. Evacuate immediately and call 9-1-1.
Lithium battery fires often start without warning, spread fast, and burn for extended time periods. If a fire breaks out, evacuate the area immediately and call 9-1-1.
Use only certified batteries and chargers on the current list from the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory. Charge batteries safely in an open space and stop using or replace any battery that shows signs of damage.
Use City’s emergency map for critical info, trusted updates
Learn how to use Berkeley’s Emergency Map to quickly see neighborhood-specific protective actions, including orders to evacuate or shelter in place.
The map – which you can access online or via an app that sends notifications – is the first place updated by the City’s emergency responders in an emergency. As the crisis evolves, the City strives to update the map with road closures, shelters, or other critical information to guide you to your next steps.
Enter addresses on the map to check the current emergency status for important locations, such as your home, workplace, and kids’ schools.
The map updates in real-time with critical information to help guide your next step. No need to memorize specific zone numbers – the map will change to adapt to rapidly evolving emergencies.
Explore and learn how to use Berkeley’s Emergency Map before an emergency occurs. Be prepared when you need it most.
Study stresses need for household fire and evacuation plans
A new study of evacuation patterns emphasizes the need for Berkeleyans to leave the Berkeley Hills early during extremely high wind, low-humidity conditions, and to make plans now to quickly evacuate once notified of tsunamis or other emergencies.
Speed your evacuation time by signing up for City alerting systems and making household plans now that include helping neighbors get on the roadway quickly.
The longer you take to get on the road, the more time it will take to evacuate. Roads will get more congested. The earlier and faster you move, the safer you’ll be. This is particularly true in the Berkeley Hills, where narrow roadways complicate quick, large-scale evacuations.
The study, authored by a third-party firm on behalf of the City, looked at evacuation times for fires and tsunamis. It found that Berkeley’s biggest roadways don’t have enough capacity for a large-scale evacuation. Residents should be familiar with all routes leading toward safety and regardless of size.
The study showed the importance of carpooling and that walking or biking can be good options for tsunami evacuations. In an emergency, stay off the roads if you’re not evacuating.
The study found that the safest choice is to leave the hills early when the Berkeley Fire Department declares “extreme fire weather” – high winds and low humidity – because wildfire spread in these conditions could outpace evacuations.
We’ll help you with your plan. The Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services has created interactive “StoryMaps” to help you use information from the study to make plans for fire weather and tsunamis. Use the City’s fire weather planning tool or our workshops to think through the steps you’ll need to take to prepare for an emergency.
We're here to help
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Or call (510) 981-2489, or 3-1-1 inside City limits.
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