Training Opportunities

🔵🔵 The National Disaster and Emergency Management University (NDEMU)  is offering K0419: Shelter Field Guide Training for State and Local Communities.  It is designed for use with its companion piece, the Shelter Field Guide. Read more in Training Opportunity 1804.  August 25–26, 2025. The course is 10 hours of online instruction, held over 2 consecutive days. 

🔵🔵 The National Council of Nonprofits will present the FREE webinar, How to Keep Charitable Nonprofits and Houses of Worship Protected from Partisan Politics, on Tuesday, August 26, 2025,at 3:00 PM ET.  This FREE webinar will discuss how to protect charitable nonprofits against partisan politics and the dark money that fuels it. Speakers will discuss why it is critical for charitable nonprofits to remain nonpartisan and how nonprofits can take action to ensure these vital institutions remain a trusted space where people can come together across political, religious, and cultural divides to solve local problems.  Register.

🔵🔵 The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies will present the premier of Portraits and Portals on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, from 2 – 4 PM ET.  This initiative, a collaboration between The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies and SeededGround, brings together disabled creatives and disabled disaster survivors of color in a project rooted in justice, connection, and collective memory.  Over the past year, nine disabled artists and creatives of color were paired with nine disabled disaster and crisis survivors of color to co-created original works of art, including visual art, poetry, music, and more that offer insight into survival, resilience, and the deep wisdom of disabled communities.  Each piece is a portal: a doorway into memory and imagination, pain and joy, grief and hope. These artworks reflect not only individual experiences of disaster but also the interconnectedness of systemic injustice, racialized harm, and disabled brilliance.  The creators say, “Disabled people of color are too often left out of emergency preparedness and response, storytelling platforms, and cultural spaces – even though they are among the first impacted and last considered in times of crisis.”  Register.

🔵🔵Preparedness Partners presents the free webinar, “The State of the Strategic National Stockpile,” on Thursday, August 28, 2025, at 2 PM ET.  With federal guidance and priorities shifting under the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), now is the time to understand the current state of the SNS—and what it means for emergency management and response operations at the local, regional, and state levels.  This session will equip you with the insights to make proactive decisions and strengthen your readiness.  Register.

🔵🔵 FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute is offering E0490: Voluntary Agency Coordination in Disasters.  Course dates: September 8–11, 2025.  Course Length: This course is 4 days in length at EMI.  Go to Training Opportunity 1874.

🔵🔵World Cares Center, in partnership with 9/11 Day and AmeriCorps, presents, “The Evolution of Volunteerism in Disaster Response – Lessons from September 11. 2001 and Beyond” on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at 12 PM ET.  This event will discuss how historic disasters have transformed the way we engage, prepare, and protect community volunteers, including spontaneous volunteers in times of crisis.  Register.

🔵🔵 Pennsylvania’s Pathways for Victim Services Conference provides an opportunity for victim service providers and allied professionals to join for national keynote speakers, informative workshops, networking opportunities and the presentation of the Governor’s Victim Service Pathfinder Awards.  This year’s conference will be held September 10-12, 2025, at Kalahari Resort.  registration.  Hotel reservations should be made directly with the Kalahari Resort.   Rate is $107/night.  For additional questions, please contact the Pathways Conference Team atRA-CD-PATHFINDER@pa.gov.

🔵🔵 The National Disaster and Emergency Management University (NDEMU)  is offering EO202: Debris Management Planning for State, Tribal, Territorial, and Local Officials, from September 15-18, 2025, in Emmitsburg, MD.  This is an in-person training.  Apply.  Learn more.  For questions about the course, please contact FEMA National Disaster and Emergency Management University Response and Recovery atfema-emi-randr@fema.dhs.gov.

🔵🔵 The Human Services and Preparedness Coalition is hosting the symposium, “From Challenge to Change,” on Thursday, September 25, 2025, from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM ET, at the WCCC Event Center, 145 Pavilion Lane, Youngwood, PA  15697.  The organizers say that this symposium is built for action-takers, change-makers, and those ready to move beyond talking about the challenges to actively shaping solutions.  By the end of the day participants will receive fresh perspectives, actionable tools, and real connections.  Register.

🔵🔵The Northeast PA Health Care Coalition will present the 2025 Special Events & Planning Symposium, on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM ET at the Kalahari Conference Center in Pocono Summit, PA.  This in-person event will bring together emergency management professionals, healthcare leaders, and public safety partners from across the region to explore real-world insights and best practices in planning for special events and mass gatherings. Session highlights include:

  • Lessons learned from large-scale events in Philadelphia
  • Regional coordination during community events like Musikfest
  • The role of the Medical Reserve Corps in public health and emergency response
  • Emergency management planning for the NASCAR race at Pocono Raceway
  • Mass gathering medical planning at Motorsports and Music Festivals
  • Firsthand response lessons from the Butler County Trump rally incident

Whether you’re involved in healthcare, EMS, public health, or emergency management, this symposium will offer valuable perspectives and actionable strategies to enhance your preparedness posture.  Registration is free, but required.

🔵🔵 Brethren Disaster Ministries will hold their Children’s Disaster Services Fall Workshop on October 17-18, 2025, in Elizabethtown, PA.  Since 1980 Children’s Disaster Services (CDS), a program of Brethren Disaster Ministries, has been meeting the needs of children by setting up childcare centers in shelters and disaster assistance centers across the nation. Specially trained to respond to traumatized children, volunteers provide a calm, safe and reassuring presence in the midst of the chaos created by tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and any natural or human-caused disaster.  Learn more.

🔵🔵 MGT 335: Event Security Planning for Public Safety Professionals will be present on October 22 and 23, 2025 at the Northampton County EMA Building, 100 Gracedale Avenue, Nazareth, PA  18064, from 8 AM to 5 PM ET each day.  MGT 335 is a DHS/FEMA-certified, tuiton-free, 16-hour course designed to educate small and rural community public safety personnel, as well as local officials, regarding security concerns and considerations involved with planning any event. This course enables participants to recognize and plan adequate strategies and security measures to prevent or mitigate security incidents which may occur during scheduled events.  This course reinforces the importance and magnitude of security planning required to execute a safe and effective event regardless of the size.  Registration is required at least 2 weeks prior to the training at this link: https://ruraltraining.org/course/MGT-335/?scheduled=true&id=13837.

🔵🔵 The Lehigh Emergency Services Training Academy (LESTA) was established to coordinate the delivery of training to all fire and rescue services, EMS and Law Enforcement within Lehigh County, PA. Through partnerships with several public safety training organizations, LESTA seeks to provide high-quality programs for firefighters and rescue personnel and is committed to meeting the training needs of all first responders in Lehigh County. Out of county students: It is LESTA’s policy not to turn away out of county students if in-county (LEHIGH) students are given priority.  Read the latest Training Newsletter.

🔵🔵 AWR-423-W: Mass Care Shelter and Relocation Communication (Web based) is available on TRAIN.  The estimated time of completion is 1.5 hours.  This web-based course provides participants with an understanding of messaging for shelter and evacuation operations and reviews at-risk populations and messaging for the whole community. By the end of the course participants  will be able to fulfill the following learning objectives:

  • Identify multiple effective communication strategies for individuals and households about where to find information on evacuation and shelters.
  • Identify the ways in which age- and culturally-appropriate warning and notification systems, evacuation protocols, and coordinating services for at-risk individuals are developed and disseminated in multiple platforms and multilingual, multicultural formats.
  • Compare messaging approaches that can differ between jurisdictions and subpopulations

Access the course via TRAIN.

🔵🔵 The Institute of Disaster Mental Health has made available the recording of their webinar, Effective Response to Chemical Disasters:  Leadership, Communication, and Lessons Learned from East Palestine.  This webinar provides an overview on chemical disasters by Dr. David Heslop, Associate Professor at UNSW Sydney and the Chair of the World Association for Disaster Emergency Medicine (WADEM) special interest group on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) disasters. Also on the webinar are Barbara Thomas and Emily Probst of the Northern Ohio Red Cross, who were instrumental in the Red Cross response to the East Palestine, OH train derailment and chemical spill.  Click here to watch the webinar.

🔵🔵The Disaster Research Response (DR2) Program provides training, funding, and a Resource Portal of tools to empower human health research in response to disasters and public health emergencies.  Visit the DR2 Website.

🔵🔵 You can access the Bucks County Community College’s Training Catalog here.

🔵🔵  You can view the Lehigh County Emergency Services training schedule here.

🔵🔵 FEMA’s National Disaster & Emergency Management University (NDEMU) resumed in-  person resident instruction at the National Emergency Training Center campus in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and hasimmediate vacancies for Fiscal Year 2025.  Visit training.fema.gov to explore NDEMU’s training opportunities.  Highlights of the FY 25–26 Catalog

  • Flexible delivery with in-person and virtual options for professionals and partners.
  • Up-to-date coursework content aligned with current policy, best practices and emerging technology.
  • Programs for every career stage, from entry-level practitioners to senior leaders.
  • Advanced Courses for senior professionals, focusing on strategic decision making, public information, advancement of strategic and policy level executive leadership and operational planning

Apply early â€” seats are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Questions? Send an email to NDEMU at training.fema.gov.