Family Emergency Plan: Create Yours in 30 Minutes
A family emergency plan is the foundation of all other preparedness work. You can have the most stocked go-bags and the best food supply in the world: but if your family doesn’t know where to meet if the disaster strikes while kids are at school, or what number to call if local phones are down, or which neighbour to contact if the adults are unreachable, your supplies are only half the equation. The plan is the other half, and it takes 30 minutes to create.
FEMA, the Red Cross, and every emergency management agency in the world recommend having a written family emergency plan. Studies after Hurricane Katrina found that families with pre-existing written plans had significantly better outcomes than those who made decisions on the fly during the evacuation chaos. This guide walks you through creating a complete plan and provides a fill-in-the-blank template you can complete and print tonight.
Time to create a complete family emergency plan using this guide
Window where your plan matters most: before official aid systems are operational
American households have no emergency plan whatsoever: don’t be one of them
Communication Plan
The most critical component of any family emergency plan is communication: specifically, how you reach each other when normal phone systems are disrupted or overloaded. After major disasters, local cell towers are often overwhelmed with call volume even when they’re physically intact. Text messages typically get through when voice calls don’t.
Out-of-Area Contact
Designate one person who lives outside your region as your family’s central communication point. Local calls and texts may fail while long-distance connections remain open. Every family member calls or texts this out-of-state contact to report their status. The contact relays messages between family members who can’t reach each other directly.
Choose this person carefully: they must be reliably reachable, calm under stress, and understand their role before an emergency. Inform them they’ve been designated and give them all family members’ contact information.
Communication Checklist
- Out-of-area contact’s name, phone, and email: ________________
- Text before calling: texts get through when calls fail
- Use social media check-in features (Facebook Safety Check, Google Crisis Response) if available
- Know the local emergency broadcast frequency (NOAA weather radio, local AM stations)
- Have a battery-powered or hand-crank radio for emergency broadcasts
- Know your children’s school communication system and emergency contact protocols
Meeting Points
Establish two meeting points: one local (for immediate neighbourhood emergencies like house fires) and one further away (for scenarios requiring evacuation from the immediate area).
- Local meeting point: Just outside your home: across the street, at a neighbour’s house, or at a specific landmark. For fires, family escapes from different parts of the house need a single confirmed gathering point. Everyone goes there immediately and confirms all family members are out before anything else.
- Neighbourhood meeting point: A location within walking distance from home that your family would recognise easily: a church parking lot, community centre, or recognisable park entrance. Used if home is not accessible or if local conditions require moving a short distance from the immediate neighbourhood.
- Regional meeting point: A specific address (family member’s home, trusted friend’s address) at least 50 miles from your home in a different direction from obvious hazards. This is where you go if you must leave the region.
Evacuation Routes
Map at least two evacuation routes from your home in different directions. Consider:
- Primary route: The fastest, most direct route out of your area toward your regional meeting point
- Alternate route: A completely different path that doesn’t share highways or bridges with your primary: available when the primary is blocked by flooding, traffic, or disaster damage
- Walking route: The path you’d take if you could not use vehicles: bridges, shortcuts, and public transit routes that would be available on foot
Walk or drive all routes before an emergency. Note fuel stops, rest areas, medical facilities, and potential choke points on each route. Mark all routes on paper maps (not just phone GPS). Store paper maps in your go-bags and vehicle.
Family Roles and Responsibilities
In an emergency, ambiguity creates delay and conflict. Assign specific responsibilities in advance:
| Role | Responsibility | Assigned To |
|---|---|---|
| Communication coordinator | Calls out-of-area contact; relays status information | ________________ |
| Go-bag retrieval | Grabs go-bags from designated location | ________________ |
| Utility shutoff | Shuts off gas, water, and electricity at main shutoffs | ________________ |
| Pet wrangling | Secures pets, grabs pet supplies and carriers | ________________ |
| Document retrieval | Grabs the go-bag document kit from its location | ________________ |
| Child assembly | Accounts for all children; carries children who can’t walk fast enough | ________________ |
| First aid | Grabs first aid kit; provides initial medical assessment if needed | ________________ |
School and Childcare Emergency Protocols
Your children spend a significant portion of their day away from you. Your family emergency plan must address what happens if a disaster strikes during school hours:
- Know your school’s reunification plan: Schools have mandatory emergency protocols: specifically “reunification procedures” that define how parents pick up children after a lockdown or evacuation. Know this before it’s needed. Contact your school’s main office and ask specifically about their reunification protocol and reunification site.
- Authorised pickup list: Ensure trusted adults (grandparents, close friends, neighbours) are on your child’s authorised pickup list at school. You may not be able to reach the school yourself.
- Do NOT go to the school during an active incident: If there’s a lockdown or evacuation in progress, showing up at the school complicates the emergency response. Follow the school’s communication and wait for their reunification instructions.
- Teach children what to do: Children old enough to understand should know: (1) their home address, (2) a parent’s phone number by heart, (3) what to tell a trusted adult if their parents can’t be reached, (4) the family out-of-area contact number.
Pets in Your Emergency Plan
- Identify pet-friendly hotels or shelters along your evacuation routes in advance: not all shelters accept animals
- Have carriers, leashes, and portable food/water bowls ready to grab
- Microchip all pets and ensure microchip registration is current with your correct contact information
- Include a 3–5 day supply of pet food in your go-bag supplies
- Keep a photo of each pet with your documents: useful for proof of ownership and finding lost animals
- Have a vaccination record for each pet: required by most emergency shelters and pet-friendly hotels
Special Needs Considerations
Households with members who have medical needs, mobility limitations, or other special requirements need additional planning:
- Medications: Identify a 72-hour minimum medication supply in your go-bag; know the procedure for emergency prescription refills at out-of-area pharmacies
- Medical equipment: Power-dependent medical equipment (CPAP, oxygen concentrator, home dialysis) requires a power backup plan: see our Extended Power Outage Guide
- Mobility limitations: Plan evacuation specifically for household members who cannot move quickly: wheelchair-accessible vehicles, assistance requirements, and who is responsible for what
- Register with local emergency services: Many counties maintain Special Needs Registries that alert emergency responders to households with residents requiring assistance during evacuation. Contact your local emergency management office.
- Elderly household members: Plan specifically for relatives who may require evacuation assistance, have medications, or have cognitive limitations that affect their ability to follow instructions under stress
Complete Family Emergency Plan Template
Print and complete this template. Store one copy posted inside a kitchen cabinet, one in each adult’s go-bag, and one with your out-of-area contact.
FAMILY EMERGENCY PLAN: [FAMILY NAME]
Date prepared: ________ | Review date: ________
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS
- Name: _________________ | Phone: _________________ | Blood type: ___
- Name: _________________ | Phone: _________________ | Blood type: ___
- Name: _________________ | Phone: _________________ | Blood type: ___
- Name: _________________ | Phone: _________________ | Blood type: ___
OUT-OF-AREA CONTACT
Name: _________________ | Phone: _________________ | Email: _________________
LOCAL EMERGENCY CONTACTS
Police non-emergency: _________________ | Fire: _________________ | Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222
MEETING POINTS
Local (outside home): _________________
Neighbourhood (walkable): _________________
Regional (50+ miles): _________________
EVACUATION ROUTES
Primary route to regional meeting point: _________________
Alternate route: _________________
Paper maps location: _________________
GO-BAG LOCATION: _________________
DOCUMENT KIT LOCATION: _________________
EMERGENCY CASH LOCATION: _________________
UTILITY SHUTOFFS
Gas shutoff location: _________________ | Tool needed: _________________
Water main location: _________________
Electrical panel location: _________________
MEDICAL INFORMATION
Medications: _________________
Allergies: _________________
Medical conditions requiring special attention: _________________
Doctor name and phone: _________________
PET INFORMATION
Pet name/species: _________________ | Microchip #: _________________ | Vet: _________________
Pet carrier location: _________________ | Food location: _________________
INSURANCE
Homeowner/renter: _________________ Policy #: _________________ Claims: _________________
Auto: _________________ Policy #: _________________
Health: _________________ Member ID: _________________
When and How to Review Your Plan
- Review annually: set a calendar reminder for the same date each year. October (U.S. Fire Prevention Month) or September (National Preparedness Month) are natural anchors.
- Review after any significant life change: new family member, new home, change in medications, change in school for children, new medical conditions.
- Practice annually: at minimum, a “tabletop exercise” where the family talks through a specific scenario (What would we do if there was a major earthquake right now while the kids are at school?). Annually, do a physical fire drill: everyone leaves the house and assembles at the local meeting point.
- Update all contact numbers: phone numbers change. Verify out-of-area contact information and all emergency contact numbers annually.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make sure my children know the emergency plan?
Children learn through repetition and practice, not one-time explanation. Hold an annual family emergency planning session where you walk through the plan as a family. For younger children, focus on the essentials: home address, one parent’s phone number memorised (not just saved in a phone), and what to tell a trusted adult if they can’t reach their parents. Use age-appropriate framing: present it as a safety plan, not a scary scenario. Regular fire drills make evacuation feel normal and manageable rather than terrifying.
What if family members are in different locations when a disaster hits?
This is exactly what the out-of-area contact and meeting points address. Each person knows: (1) contact the out-of-area person first to report status, (2) go to the designated meeting point if direct contact is impossible, (3) know which meeting point: local, neighbourhood, or regional: is appropriate for the severity of the situation. Practice the protocol verbally with family members so it’s automatic rather than requiring real-time decision-making under stress.
Does my emergency plan need to cover every possible scenario?
No: and trying to cover everything makes your plan too complex to execute under stress. Focus on the universal elements: communication, meeting points, evacuation routes, go-bag locations, and roles. These elements apply across virtually all emergency scenarios. Scenario-specific details (what to do in a tornado vs. a chemical spill) can be supplemental knowledge; the core plan should be simple enough to execute under stress, in the dark, in 2 minutes if necessary.
Create Your Family Emergency Plan Tonight
Print the template above, sit down with your family for 30 minutes, and fill it in. Post one copy on the refrigerator or inside a cabinet door. Text the out-of-area contact to let them know they’ve been designated. Done. You’ve just done something that fewer than 35% of American families have done.