Emergency Services

The City of Palo Alto, its residents, businesses, schools, faith communities, and special populations face potential hazards from natural, intentional, and unintentional causes. Familiarize yourself with the threats and hazards facing Palo Alto.

The City of Palo Alto provides many ways to receive public warnings and emergency alerts. Sign up to receive alerts by email, text/SMS, or via social media for one of the options below. 

Sign up for AlertSCC, the Santa Clara County mass notification system.  It's a free and easy way to get emergency alerts sent directly to your cell phone or mobile device, landline, or email. Signing up for AlertSCC is one of the easiest steps you can take to prepare yourself and your family for an unexpected event and it takes only minutes.

Learn more about other ways you can stay connected and informed during an emergency.

• Individuals & Families.  Learn how to prepare for the range of hazards that exist in Palo Alto.  We offer steps to know your hazards, make a plan, build a kit and stay informed. 

• Businesses. FEMA's Ready.Gov provides helpful resources to help you plan for and recover from emergencies that may impact your business.  

• Schools. Whether in day care, K-12, or college, school preparedness helps to keep students and staff safe. The State of California has established basic standards for emergency preparedness that all school leaders can use.  

• Faith Communities. Faith-based preparedness is important during emergencies so that staff and congregants know what to do. Faith-based organizations can also play an important role in a disaster to help the community during and after the emergency.

• Seniors.  If you are an older adult living in the community, you may face some challenges during an emergency. For example, you may have mobility problems, or chronic health conditions, or you may not have any family or friends nearby to support you. Support services that are usually available, such as help from caregivers or in-home health care and meal delivery services, may be unavailable for a period of time. In addition, older adults may experience challenges that come with advanced age, such as hearing or vision problems or cognitive impairment, which may make it difficult to access, understand, and respond to emergency instructions.

• You or the person you care for can be prepared for emergency situations by creating a plan, reviewing or practicing it regularly, and keeping an emergency supply kit.  FEMA's Ready.gov for Seniors and the CDC's Emergency Preparedness for Older Adults are helpful resources.   

• Access & Functional Needs.  Those with disabilities or special needs can be most at risk during emergency situations.  It is so important to plan ahead to ensure you have assistive devices, supplies, a transportation plan, and more when the situation calls for it.  Start your emergency planning now.

Palo Alto's Emergency Services Volunteers (ESV): Learn more about Palo Alto's Emergency Services Volunteers.  The Office of Emergency Services sponsors the Palo Alto ESV program that consists of Palo Alto community members who make Palo Alto more resilient by forming neighborhood connections, promoting emergency preparedness, and providing supplementary resources to professional first responders during times of need.  

The ESV program includes:

• Palo Alto Neighborhoods - Neighborhood and Block Preparedness Coordinators
• Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members
• Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) a.k.a. ham radio operators
• Medical Reserve Unit (MRU)

The Emergency Operations Center is an emergency management structure comprised of interdepartmental city staff and volunteers that, when activated, can support, communicate, coordinate, prioritize, document, guide policy, plan, and manage information and resources.

• MOBILE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER: (MEOC)  Expanded Incident Command Post function, backup Palo Alto 9-1-1 center.

• DIRECTOR'S COMMAND VEHICLE: (DCV) Mobile Incident Command Post, hazard response across conditions.

• MEOC SUPPORT VEHICLE: (MSV)  Logistics support to Incident Command Post, disaster support, search and rescue.

• UTILITY TERRAIN VEHICLE: (UTV)  100% all electric. Patrol locations where larger vehicles cannot be driven.

• SOLAR GENERATOR TRAILER: (SGT)  100kWh source of renewable energy to provide emergency power for critical systems.