Preparedness Program Participation Request Form

Thank you for your interest in American Red Cross Community Preparedness Education Programs.

August-October is peak wildfire season. We will do our best to fulfill your requests, but please keep in mind that our volunteers also help in disaster response operations around the country. We will communicate our status to you before your presentation, and we will work with you to reschedule if a response takes our attention.

The American Red Cross Serving Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties strives to build strong and sustainable relationships with diverse communities to help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. In our efforts to promote preparedness in local communities, we offer the following complimentary programs with 3-4 weeks advance notice.

COVID-19 Updates

Our primary priority is the safety of our community and presenters. Please see our current guidelines below! We will update you if anything changes. 

• As of October 2021, we are able to accommodate all types of presentations: virtual, indoors, and outdoors
• All participants in Red Cross presentations (outdoor or indoor) must wear a mask and practice social distancing
• All Red Cross presenters participating in in-person programs are required to be vaccinated.

Be Red Cross Ready

Audience: Ideal for adults, rotaries, community groups, and households

Be Red Cross Ready is a personal preparedness presentation that focuses on three steps to becoming prepared: Get a kit. Make a plan. Be informed. This presentation is taught by trained Red Cross volunteers and runs approximately one hour. We can tailor this presentation to your group's needs, and we offer a wide variety of topics to choose from. The list below contains all our modules and their approximate run times, as well as some of our most popular topic combinations.

Be Red Cross Ready Topic Modules

• Preparedness Essentials: 30-40 minutes
• Wildfires (Popular topic!): 1 hour
• Earthquakes: 25-30 minutes
• Home Fires: 25-30 minutes
• Floods: 30 minutes
• Landslides: 20-25 minutes
• Extreme Heat: 20-25 minutes
• Preparedness for Older Adults: 30-40 minutes
• Winter Storms

Recommended Be Red Cross Ready Topic Combinations

• Preparedness Essentials and Earthquakes
• Floods and Landslides
• Earthquakes and Home Fires

Available now! Be Red Cross Ready for High School students and Disaster Preparedness Essentials for Access and Functional Needs.

Prepare with Pedro

Audience: Students kindergarten-2nd grade

Prepare with Pedro is a 30-45 minute interactive presentation through a storybook, taught by trained Red Cross volunteers. Students learn along with Pedro the Penguin as he joins his friends and neighbors in exploring and preparing for local hazards. Students in the Southern California region will learn how to prepare for home fires or earthquakes and teachers will have the option to share information with parents on how they can receive a free smoke alarm from the American Red Cross. This presentation can be presented in the classroom, as an assembly, or on a virtual platform and each student who participates in the presentation will receive a storybook to take home.

New! Prepare with Pedro wildfire edition.

Note: At this time, our inventory consists of Home Fire and Wildfire books. Earthquake presentations are available with digital workbooks only.

Pillowcase Project

Audience: Students 3rd-5th grade

The Pillowcase Project is a one-hour interactive presentation that teaches students emergency preparedness skills and helpful coping skills for stressful situations. All Pillowcase Project presentations are taught by trained Red Cross volunteers and cover preparedness tools for home fires and a local hazard of your choice. This presentation can be taught in a classroom, as an assembly, or on a virtual platform. Each student who participates in the presentation will receive a pillowcase, a workbook, and a fabric marker to take home.

Available Local Hazard Topics: Earthquakes and Wildfires

Hands-Only CPR

Audience: Adults 16 and older

Hands-Only CPR is a non-certification interactive course that teaches life-saving skills to the community. This 30-minute presentation is taught by trained and certified Red Cross volunteers and aims to reduce barriers to act in a life-saving emergency. Having more bystanders trained in chest compressions can help save lives by putting more cardiac arrest victims within a few steps of someone who has the skills to help. Access to the internet, a projector, and a sound system is best for the video demonstration, but not required.

Ready Rating

Audience: Workplace Safety Committees, Small Businesses, Schools, Non-Profit Organizations

The Ready Rating presentation is an overview of the readyrating.org website that offers free preparedness planning for small businesses. This 30-minute presentation reviews the resources and templates available to schools, businesses, and faith-based organizations to create or update their Emergency Action Plans. Access to the internet is required for this presentation to demonstrate the website and its features.

Community Outreach

Individuals in the community and workplace can request Red Cross participation at safety or preparedness fairs.

The Community Outreach team sets up informational tables at community fairs and events. Information available includes preparedness materials, flyers for upcoming events, and brochures including information on Red Cross Services and volunteering. A table and chairs must be provided by the organizer. Please note that we may have a limited number of volunteers throughout the region and may not be able to accept every request for this type of community outreach.

Request Process

If you are interested in any of the presentations listed above, please fill out the form below. We request at least a 3-week notice before the requested event date to finish the scheduling and confirmation process, put together materials, plan logistics, and recruit volunteers. Filling out this form does not guarantee the dates you have listed. Many of our programs are in high demand and our schedules can fill up as early as two months in advance. Once you have filled out this form, someone from our office will be in touch within 2 business days to continue the scheduling process.

We work hard to meet each request from our communities and ask that you keep in mind that our ability to commit to your request is based on the availability of our volunteers, relevance to the Red Cross mission and available resources. Please note: our disaster operations take priority. If our volunteers are called to serve in a disaster response, we may need to cancel or postpone our involvement in a previously scheduled preparedness activity. We will do our best to accommodate your event, and we will let you know if a response will interfere with our participation. Thank you for understanding!

In order to receive Red Cross confirmation to participate your request will depend on the following:

1. A 3-week notice of preferred date and time for the activity to be held
2. Our volunteers signing up to support the event
3. Your understanding of the following policy: There is NO FEE to participate. We will not be able to provide incentives or raffle prizes to participate in your event.

Please click “SUBMIT” to complete your request.

Thank you for your interest in our Preparedness Programs! Someone will contact you within the week to discuss your event.