What a family emergency plan is
A family emergency plan is a short written agreement about what each person in the household does when a disaster or emergency separates you or forces you to leave home. Ready.gov, the US government's preparedness site, gives the reason: your family may not be together when a disaster strikes, so you need to know how to contact one another and reconnect. Its advice is to "establish a family meeting place that's familiar and easy to find."
Ready.gov breaks the work into four steps:
- Meet with your family and talk through five questions: how you will receive emergency alerts and warnings, what your shelter plan is, what your evacuation route is, what your household communication plan is, and whether your emergency kit needs updating.
- Assess your household's needs: ages, medical needs and equipment, disabilities, languages, dietary needs, pets or service animals, and children of school age.
- Document the plan on paper, with contacts, meeting places and medical information.
- Practice it with everyone in the household.
The written part is the one most families skip, and it matters most when phones are dead. The free printable emergency contact list puts household members, family, neighbors, doctors, school or work and utilities on one page, with your home address, where the shutoffs are and two meeting places, plus wallet cards and a page for the babysitter.
The contact list and an out-of-area contact
Start with the numbers nobody knows by heart. FEMA's Family Emergency Communication Plan card, the form Ready.gov offers for this step, has fields for each household member with a mobile number, another number or social media account, email and important medical information, then a section for the emergency plans of schools, childcare, caregivers and workplaces, including how pick-up works. Ask each school and employer for their plan; it decides where a child will be after an emergency.
The single most useful entry is the out-of-area contact. Ready.gov's advice is to pick the same person for each family member to contact, and to pick someone out of town, because they may be easier to reach in a disaster. The American Red Cross explains why: it may be easier to text or call long distance if local phone lines are overloaded or out of service. Ready.gov adds a second rule: text, don't talk. A text may get through more easily than a call, and it leaves the lines open for emergency workers.
- Choose one person for everyone, tell them they are the contact, and give them the full list of names and numbers.
- Write the number down as well as saving it. The Red Cross says everyone should carry emergency contact information in writing and saved on their phones, and that places where children spend time, such as school or daycare, should have the numbers too.
- Write in your local emergency number at the top. Emergency, poison help and non-emergency police numbers differ from country to country, so look up the ones that apply where you live on an official local website rather than copying them from a plan made elsewhere.
Meeting places near home and outside the neighborhood
A meeting place answers the question every separated family asks: where do we go now. The American Red Cross recommends two places, and FEMA's card has room for more. Ready.gov's page for kids says to consider places in your house, in your neighborhood, and outside your city or town, so you are prepared for any situation.
| Meeting place | When you use it | What makes a good one |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor | Sheltering at home, for example during a storm | A room everyone can reach quickly, away from windows |
| Right outside the home | A sudden emergency such as a fire (Red Cross) | A fixed point a safe distance from the house: a mailbox, a tree, a neighbor's gate |
| Outside the neighborhood | You cannot return home or are asked to evacuate (Red Cross) | A library, place of worship or relative's home that the children can find on their own |
| Out of town | An evacuation of the whole area | The home of friends or relatives a safe distance away, with a route planned in advance |
Ready.gov asks for places that are safe, familiar and accessible, and, if you have pets or service animals, for animal-friendly locations. Write the address and a short instruction next to each place, and walk the children to the neighborhood meeting place once so they know the way. For fires, Ready.gov's home fire escape plan adds: know two ways out of every room, in case one exit is blocked.
The emergency kit checklist
Ready.gov says that after an emergency you may need to survive on your own for several days, and lists the items a basic disaster supplies kit could include. The table below is that list, with the purpose Ready.gov gives where it gives one. Store the items in airtight plastic bags and put the whole kit in one or two easy-to-carry containers, such as plastic bins or a duffel bag.
| Item | Note from Ready.gov |
|---|---|
| Water | one gallon (about 3.8 liters) per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation |
| Food | at least a several-day supply of non-perishable food |
| Battery-powered or hand crank radio | Ready.gov also lists a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert, a US service |
| Flashlight | |
| Extra batteries | |
| First aid kit | |
| Whistle | to signal for help |
| Dust mask | to help filter contaminated air |
| Plastic sheeting, scissors and duct tape | to shelter in place |
| Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties | for personal sanitation |
| Wrench or pliers | to turn off utilities |
| Manual can opener | for food |
| Local maps | |
| Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery |
Ready.gov also suggests additional supplies based on your needs, among them prescription and non-prescription medications, glasses, infant supplies, pet food and water, cash, a warm blanket and a change of clothes for each person, and copies of important documents such as insurance policies, identification and bank records, saved electronically or in a waterproof, portable container. A written list of what you own helps with the insurance side; the guide home inventory for insurance covers how to make one.
Where the kit lives matters as much as what is in it. Ready.gov recommends supplies for home, work and the car, says the home kit should sit in a designated place everyone in the family knows, and says a work kit should prepare you to shelter there for at least 24 hours. To keep it ready, store food cool, dry and closed, replace expired items, and rethink your needs every year.
Children, older relatives and pets
Ready.gov's second step is to fit the plan to your household. A simple way to do that is to name one helper for each person who needs help.
- Children. Give each child a copy of the contacts; Ready.gov suggests keeping it in a backpack or wallet, or taped into a notebook. Make sure the school and daycare have the numbers too. For fires, Ready.gov's escape plan says to decide who will help each young child under six, who cannot get outside alone.
- Older relatives. Ready.gov's page for older adults recommends a support network of family, friends and neighbors, and that at least one person in it has an extra key to the home, knows where the emergency supplies are kept and knows how to use lifesaving equipment or give medicine. It also suggests copies of insurance cards and a plan for taking assistive devices along in an evacuation.
- Medical information. Ready.gov's online plan form has room for doctors, allergies, prescriptions and assistive devices. Write down what each person takes and who prescribes it; the plan records the facts, the doctor decides the rest.
- Pets. Ready.gov says pets belong in the family plan and warns that many public shelters and hotels do not allow pets inside, so know a safe place for them in advance. It recommends a buddy system with neighbors, friends or relatives who can care for or evacuate your pets if you cannot, a microchip with your current details and an emergency contact outside your immediate area, and two pet kits: a larger one for sheltering at home and a light one for leaving.
Ready.gov's pet kit list ends with an item people forget: a picture of you and your pet together, which helps prove ownership and identify the animal if you get separated.
Practicing the plan and keeping it current
Ready.gov's fourth step is to practice the plan with your household, and its page for kids says to make sure everyone has copies and to hold regular household meetings to review and practice. Your household's needs change over time, Ready.gov adds, so update the plan regularly.
- Fire drill: Ready.gov recommends a home fire drill at least twice a year, run at different times of day or night, using different ways out.
- Evacuation drill: the American Red Cross suggests practicing an evacuation twice a year: grab the kit as you would in a real emergency, drive the planned route, and mark alternate routes in case roads are closed.
- Text test: have everyone send a short message to the out-of-area contact, and check that it arrives.
- Kit check: replace expired items, and once a year rethink what the household needs now, as Ready.gov advises.
- Contact check: after a new job, school, phone number or doctor, reprint the list rather than correcting it by hand.
The Red Cross also points to family members who live elsewhere part of the year, such as students away at college. Decide how the plan works when they are home and when they are away.
The free template and the tools
The printable emergency contact list is built for the documenting step. Type in contacts or leave sections empty to fill in by hand, and print a one-page list for the fridge with home details, the shutoffs and two meeting places, one outside the home and one outside the neighborhood. The download adds wallet cards the size of a bank card and a page for the babysitter or sitter. The emergency number boxes are left empty on purpose, for the numbers that apply where you live.
For households with animals, the printable pet care log has a profile page with a photo box and the microchip number, and a pet sitter sheet with feeding times, both vets and two emergency contacts, which is what a buddy from Ready.gov's pet advice needs to take over.
Two tools help with the details. The QR code generator makes QR codes for contacts and locations, among other things, so each family member can scan the out-of-area contact into their phone, or open a map link to the meeting place outside the neighborhood. The time zone converter shows what time it is in other cities, daylight saving time included, which helps when the out-of-area contact lives in another time zone and you are agreeing when to call.
Frequently asked questions
What should a family emergency plan include?
Ready.gov, the US government's preparedness site, builds the plan around a few questions: how you will receive alerts and warnings, where you will shelter, your evacuation route, your household communication plan, and whether your emergency kit needs updating. On paper that becomes a contact list for every household member, one out-of-area contact, the meeting places, the plans of schools, childcare and workplaces, important medical information, and the supplies kit.
Why pick an out-of-town emergency contact?
Ready.gov advises picking the same person for each family member to contact and choosing someone out of town, because they may be easier to reach in a disaster. The American Red Cross gives the reason: it may be easier to text or call long distance when local phone lines are overloaded or out of service. Everyone then reports to that one person, who passes the news on.
How many meeting places does a family need?
The American Red Cross recommends two: one right outside your home for a sudden emergency such as a fire, and one outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return home or are told to evacuate. FEMA's communication plan card has room for four: indoor, in the neighborhood, outside the neighborhood and out of town.
How much water should be in an emergency kit?
Ready.gov lists one gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation; a gallon is about 3.8 liters. A household of four that plans for three days therefore needs 12 gallons, about 45 liters. Pets need their own supply, which Ready.gov lists separately.
How often should we practice and update the plan?
Ready.gov says to practice the plan with your household and to rethink your kit needs every year. The American Red Cross suggests practicing an evacuation twice a year, and Ready.gov recommends a home fire drill at least twice a year. Update the contact list whenever a phone number, school, job or doctor changes.
Which emergency number should I write on the plan?
The one that applies where you live. Emergency, police, fire and poison help numbers differ between countries, and some regions have their own non-emergency lines. Look them up on the website of your local government or emergency services and write them in large digits at the top of the contact list and on the sitter page.
Sources
- Ready.gov: Make a Plan (establish a family meeting place that is familiar and easy to find; the four steps: meet with your family, assess household needs, document the plan, practice it; the household needs to consider, from ages and medical needs to pets and school-aged children)
- Ready.gov: Build a Kit (the basic disaster supplies kit with one gallon of water per person per day, the additional supplies, storing items in airtight bags in one or two easy-to-carry containers, replacing expired items, rethinking needs every year, kits for home, work and car)
- Ready.gov Kids: Make a Plan (pick the same person for everyone to contact, someone out of town; text instead of calling; meeting places in the house, in the neighborhood and outside the city or town; copies in a backpack or wallet; regular household meetings; update the plan regularly)
- FEMA: Family Emergency Communication Plan fillable card, FEMA P-1095 (fields for household members, school, childcare, caregiver and workplace plans with pick-up, an in-case-of-emergency contact, an out-of-town contact and four meeting places)
- Ready.gov: Make a Plan form (the online Family Emergency Communication Plan, with fields for doctors, allergy information and prescriptions, assistive devices and a veterinarian)
- American Red Cross: Make a Plan (two meeting places, right outside the home and outside the neighborhood; an out-of-area contact because long-distance calls or texts may get through; contacts in writing and on phones; contacts at school or daycare; practice evacuating twice a year; a list of pet-friendly places along the route)
- Ready.gov: Prepare Your Pets for Disasters (pets in the family plan; many public shelters and hotels do not allow pets; a buddy system; microchip with an emergency contact outside the immediate area; two pet kits and what goes in them)
- Ready.gov: Older Adults (a support network; at least one person with an extra key who knows where the supplies are; copies of insurance cards; assistive devices during an evacuation; backup plans for routine treatments)
- Ready.gov: Home Fire Escape Plan (two ways out of every room; a safe meeting place a safe distance from home; a home fire drill at least twice a year; a plan for who helps each child under six get out)