diff --git a/rmw/CMakeLists.txt b/rmw/CMakeLists.txt
index cf643706..265b137f 100644
--- a/rmw/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rmw/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ include_directories(include)
 set(rmw_sources
   "src/allocators.c"
   "src/convert_rcutils_ret_to_rmw_ret.c"
+  "src/event.c"
   "src/init.c"
   "src/init_options.c"
   "src/names_and_types.c"
diff --git a/rmw/include/rmw/event.h b/rmw/include/rmw/event.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e24cd5df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rmw/include/rmw/event.h
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+// Copyright 2019 Open Source Robotics Foundation, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#ifndef RMW__EVENT_H_
+#define RMW__EVENT_H_
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C"
+{
+#endif
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+#include "rcutils/allocator.h"
+
+#include "rmw/macros.h"
+#include "rmw/types.h"
+#include "rmw/ret_types.h"
+#include "rmw/visibility_control.h"
+
+/// Define QoS policy events
+typedef enum rmw_event_type_t
+{
+  // subscription events
+  RMW_EVENT_LIVELINESS_CHANGED,
+  RMW_EVENT_REQUESTED_DEADLINE_MISSED,
+
+  // publisher events
+  RMW_EVENT_LIVELINESS_LOST,
+  RMW_EVENT_OFFERED_DEADLINE_MISSED,
+
+  // sentinel value
+  RMW_EVENT_INVALID
+} rmw_event_type_t;
+
+/// Encapsulate the RMW event implementation, data, and type.
+typedef struct RMW_PUBLIC_TYPE rmw_event_t
+{
+  /// Implementation identifier, used to ensure two different implementations are not being mixed.
+  const char * implementation_identifier;
+  /// Data specific to this event type from either the publisher or subscriber.
+  void * data;
+  /// The event type that occurred.
+  rmw_event_type_t event_type;
+} rmw_event_t;
+
+/// Return a zero initialized event structure.
+RMW_PUBLIC
+RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+rmw_event_t
+rmw_get_zero_initialized_event(void);
+
+/// Initialize a rmw publisher event.
+/**
+ * \param[in|out] rmw_event to initialize
+ * \param publisher to initialize with
+ * \param event_type for the event to handle
+ * \return `RMW_RET_OK` if successful, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT` if invalid argument
+ * \return `RMW_RET_ERROR` if an unexpected error occurs.
+ */
+RMW_PUBLIC
+RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_publisher_event_init(
+  rmw_event_t * rmw_event,
+  const rmw_publisher_t * publisher,
+  rmw_event_type_t event_type);
+
+/// Initialize a rmw subscription event.
+/**
+ * \param[in|out] rmw_event to initialize
+ * \param subscription to initialize with
+ * \param event_type for the event to handle
+ * \return `RMW_RET_OK` if successful, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT` if invalid argument
+ * \return `RMW_RET_ERROR` if an unexpected error occurs.
+ */
+RMW_PUBLIC
+RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_subscription_event_init(
+  rmw_event_t * rmw_event,
+  const rmw_subscription_t * subscription,
+  rmw_event_type_t event_type);
+
+/// Take an event from the event handle.
+/**
+ * \param event_handle event object to take from
+ * \param event_info event info object to write taken data into
+ * \param taken boolean flag indicating if an event was taken or not
+ * \return `RMW_RET_OK` if successful, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_BAD_ALLOC` if memory allocation failed, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_ERROR` if an unexpected error occurs.
+ */
+RMW_PUBLIC
+RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_take_event(
+  const rmw_event_t * event_handle,
+  void * event_info,
+  bool * taken);
+
+/// Finalize an rmw_event_t.
+/**
+ * \param event to finalize
+ */
+RMW_PUBLIC
+RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_event_fini(rmw_event_t * event);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif  // RMW__EVENT_H_
diff --git a/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h b/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
index 05347c37..22480511 100644
--- a/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
+++ b/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
@@ -183,6 +183,30 @@ RMW_WARN_UNUSED
 rmw_ret_t
 rmw_destroy_node(rmw_node_t * node);
 
+/// Manually assert that this node is alive (for RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE)
+/**
+ * If the rmw Liveliness policy is set to RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE, the creator of
+ * this node may manually call `assert_liveliness` at some point in time to signal to the rest
+ * of the system that this Node is still alive.
+ *
+ * <hr>
+ * Attribute          | Adherence
+ * ------------------ | -------------
+ * Allocates Memory   | No
+ * Thread-Safe        | Yes
+ * Uses Atomics       | No
+ * Lock-Free          | Yes
+ *
+ * \param[in] node handle to the node that needs liveliness to be asserted
+ * \return `RMW_RET_OK` if the liveliness assertion was completed successfully, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_ERROR` if an unspecified error occurs, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_UNSUPPORTED` if the rmw implementation does not support asserting liveliness.
+ */
+RMW_PUBLIC
+RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_node_assert_liveliness(const rmw_node_t * node);
+
 /// Return a guard condition which is triggered when the ROS graph changes.
 /**
  * The handle returned is a pointer to an internally held rmw guard condition.
@@ -373,6 +397,30 @@ rmw_get_serialized_message_size(
   const rosidl_message_bounds_t * message_bounds,
   size_t * size);
 
+/// Manually assert that this Publisher is alive (for RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC)
+/**
+ * If the rmw Liveliness policy is set to RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC, the creator of
+ * this publisher may manually call `assert_liveliness` at some point in time to signal to the rest
+ * of the system that this Node is still alive.
+ *
+ * <hr>
+ * Attribute          | Adherence
+ * ------------------ | -------------
+ * Allocates Memory   | No
+ * Thread-Safe        | Yes
+ * Uses Atomics       | No
+ * Lock-Free          | Yes
+ *
+ * \param[in] publisher handle to the publisher that needs liveliness to be asserted
+ * \return `RMW_RET_OK` if the liveliness assertion was completed successfully, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_ERROR` if an unspecified error occurs, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_UNSUPPORTED` if the rmw implementation does not support asserting liveliness.
+ */
+RMW_PUBLIC
+RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_publisher_assert_liveliness(const rmw_publisher_t * publisher);
+
 /// Serialize a ROS message into a rmw_serialized_message_t.
 /**
  * The ROS message is serialized into a byte stream contained within the
@@ -764,6 +812,7 @@ rmw_wait(
   rmw_guard_conditions_t * guard_conditions,
   rmw_services_t * services,
   rmw_clients_t * clients,
+  rmw_events_t * events,
   rmw_wait_set_t * wait_set,
   const rmw_time_t * wait_timeout);
 
diff --git a/rmw/include/rmw/types.h b/rmw/include/rmw/types.h
index 16203dd2..baf972f7 100644
--- a/rmw/include/rmw/types.h
+++ b/rmw/include/rmw/types.h
@@ -137,6 +137,14 @@ typedef struct RMW_PUBLIC_TYPE rmw_clients_t
   void ** clients;
 } rmw_clients_t;
 
+typedef struct RMW_PUBLIC_TYPE rmw_events_t
+{
+  /// The number of events represented by the array.
+  size_t event_count;
+  /// Pointer to an array of void * pointers of events.
+  void ** events;
+} rmw_events_t;
+
 /// Array of guard condition handles.
 /**
  * An array of void * pointers representing type-erased middleware-specific guard conditions.
diff --git a/rmw/src/event.c b/rmw/src/event.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4b3dc0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rmw/src/event.c
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+// Copyright 2019 Open Source Robotics Foundation, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#include <stddef.h>
+
+#include "rmw/error_handling.h"
+#include "rmw/event.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+rmw_event_t
+rmw_get_zero_initialized_event(void)
+{
+  const rmw_event_t event = {
+    .implementation_identifier = NULL,
+    .data = NULL,
+    .event_type = RMW_EVENT_INVALID
+  };  // NOLINT(readability/braces): false positive
+  return event;
+}
+
+rmw_ret_t
+__rmw_init_event(
+  rmw_event_t * rmw_event,
+  const char * implementation_identifier,
+  void * data,
+  const rmw_event_type_t event_type)
+{
+  RMW_CHECK_ARGUMENT_FOR_NULL(implementation_identifier, RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT);
+  RMW_CHECK_ARGUMENT_FOR_NULL(data, RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT);
+  RMW_CHECK_ARGUMENT_FOR_NULL(rmw_event, RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT);
+  if (NULL != rmw_event->implementation_identifier) {
+    RMW_SET_ERROR_MSG("expected zero-initialized rmw_event");
+    return RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT;
+  }
+  rmw_event->implementation_identifier = implementation_identifier;
+  rmw_event->data = data;
+  rmw_event->event_type = event_type;
+  return RMW_RET_OK;
+}
+
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_publisher_event_init(
+  rmw_event_t * rmw_event,
+  const rmw_publisher_t * publisher,
+  rmw_event_type_t event_type)
+{
+  return __rmw_init_event(
+    rmw_event,
+    publisher->implementation_identifier,
+    publisher->data,
+    event_type);
+}
+
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_subscription_event_init(
+  rmw_event_t * rmw_event,
+  const rmw_subscription_t * subscription,
+  rmw_event_type_t event_type)
+{
+  return __rmw_init_event(
+    rmw_event,
+    subscription->implementation_identifier,
+    subscription->data,
+    event_type);
+}
+
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_event_fini(rmw_event_t * rmw_event)
+{
+  RMW_CHECK_ARGUMENT_FOR_NULL(rmw_event, RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT);
+  *rmw_event = rmw_get_zero_initialized_event();
+  return RMW_RET_OK;
+}
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif