Family Emergency Plan: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

A family emergency plan is the set of decisions your household makes before an emergency, so nobody has to make them under stress. Write down two meeting places and one out-of-area contact today, and the rest of this plan builds on that single page.

A family emergency plan needs two meeting places, one out-of-area contact, two evacuation routes, and a written note of who grabs what. Print it, keep a copy in each phone, wallet, and go-bag, and review it twice a year.

What's changed recently

Ready.gov still teaches the same core plan. It covers meeting spots, a contact, and a way to talk when phone lines jam.

What has grown is wireless alerts. More phones get them on their own now. More counties also offer free text alerts for evacuation orders. Check if your county has one and sign up. It takes a few minutes and adds one more layer to your plan.

Build your family emergency plan in five steps

1. Pick two meeting places

Choose a meeting place outside your home for a quick exit, such as a kitchen fire. A mailbox or a named tree can be easy to recognize. Pick another place outside the neighborhood for an evacuation that covers a wider area. Write clear directions and check that everyone in the household can follow them.

2. Agree on one out-of-area contact

During a local emergency, local phone lines often jam before long-distance texts do. Pick one relative or friend who lives outside your region. Every family member calls or texts that person first. That person then relays who is safe and where.

3. Map two ways out

From your home, sketch two different routes to leave the neighborhood, not just the one you drive every day. If your area posts an official evacuation route, such as many coastal counties do for hurricanes, note that route here too.

4. Write down what each person grabs

List medications and glasses first, then chargers, then each go-bag's spot in the house. Keep the list short. The goal is a five-minute exit, not a moving day.

5. Put pets in the plan by name

Note each pet's carrier spot and food supply. Then add the nearest pet-friendly shelter or hotel you have found in advance. Ready.gov notes that many public shelters and hotels do not allow pets inside, so decide this now, not at the door.

Planning for pets

Pets need their own line items, not an afterthought. Keep a carrier for each pet somewhere you can reach it fast, since carrying a cat or a large dog any distance without one is difficult. Pack a few days of food, plus a water bowl, in the same bag as the rest of your go-bag supplies.

Ready.gov notes that many public shelters and hotels do not allow pets inside. It also suggests keeping copies of your pet's registration and other records in a waterproof container. Find a pet-friendly hotel or shelter near you before you need one. See Ready.gov's pet guidance. A quick search now saves real time later.

Family communication plan: the piece most households skip

A meeting place only works if everyone can get there. A communication plan covers what happens if someone is at work, at school, or stuck in traffic when an emergency starts.

• Write down each family member's work, school, or daycare address and main phone number.
• Pick a second contact method beyond phone calls, such as text or a group chat app, since texts often go through when voice calls do not.
• Agree on a simple check-in phrase, like "safe at [meeting place]," so a short message says everything that matters.
• Teach kids their out-of-area contact's number by heart, not just saved in a phone that might run out of battery.

How often to update the plan

Review the plan twice a year. Good anchor points are the spring and fall time changes, since those are easy to remember and already involve checking smoke detector batteries.

Update the plan when someone moves, gets a phone or needs a different medicine. Add pets and their shelter arrangements as soon as they join the household. Check that the contact details and responsibilities fit everyone who lives with you.

Ways to keep the plan on hand

The free printable above is the whole plan and costs nothing. Some households like a sturdier copy: a binder with tabs for insurance and medical info, a waterproof pouch to keep the printed plan dry in the go-bag, or a wallet-card version to carry the short form on you. None of these replace the free printable. They just make it more durable. Our preparedness supplies guide compares a document organizer and waterproof pouches.

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Official family emergency plan resources

For a fill-in version from official sources, see Ready.gov's make-a-plan page and the American Red Cross plan guide. Both cover the same core: meeting places, contacts and a plan for everyone in the home.

Dated events for household planning

Use a documented event to test the plan against a real place and hazard. The tables link each event to its agency record or research source:

• World disaster events by year and country
• India disaster records
• United States and Caribbean disaster records
• Southern Africa disaster records
• Nigeria disaster records
• Afghanistan disaster records
• Malaysia disaster records
• Indonesia disaster records
• Disaster types and official alerts