How to Make a Family Emergency Plan (Step by Step)

A family emergency plan is a simple, agreed-upon set of instructions for what your family does in a disaster — how you'll reach each other, where you'll meet, and what you have ready — so no one has to figure it out in the moment. Emergencies don't wait for a convenient time or for everyone to be home together. The families who come through them calmly are the ones who decided the plan in advance. This step-by-step guide walks through the communication plan, meeting places, supply kit, and medical info that make up a complete plan.

The whole point of a plan is to replace panic with a checklist. You won't rise to the occasion in an emergency — you'll fall back on what you've prepared. Here's how to prepare the right things.

What should a family emergency plan include?

A complete family emergency plan has five parts: a communication plan, meeting places, a supply kit, medical and document info, and practice. Making the plan is itself valuable — the University of Minnesota Extension notes that making a disaster plan is a great opportunity to talk to the whole family about disasters, which is often the first time kids learn what to actually do. Let's build each part.

How do you make a family communication plan?

Start here, because in most emergencies the hardest part is simply reaching each other. The single most important step is choosing an out-of-area contact. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises families to decide on a person — preferably not a local person who might be affected by the same disaster — that everyone can contact if you are separated. Long-distance calls and texts often go through when local lines are jammed. Then:

• Make sure every family member carries key numbers both written down and saved in their phone.
• Give the same contact list to schools, childcare, and anyone who watches your kids.
• Teach kids old enough to call 911 and to memorize a couple of essential numbers.

Where should you meet and what should you pack?

Agree on two meeting places: one right near home (for something like a house fire) and one outside the neighborhood in case you can't get back. Then build a 72-hour supply kit — enough food, water, and medication for three days per person, plus a flashlight and essentials. Include the kids in the kit: Utah State University Extension recommends you help your child prepare and store a 72-hour readiness kit so he or she knows where to access the kit if it becomes necessary, which both prepares them and takes the fear out of it. Review kit contents every six months, since food, water, and medications expire.

What medical and document info should you keep ready?

This is the part most families forget until they need it. Keep current medical information for each person — medications, allergies, conditions, and doctors — plus copies of important documents like insurance and IDs somewhere you can reach fast. In an emergency, whoever is with your kids needs that information instantly, whether it's you, a grandparent, or a babysitter. That's exactly why a shared, always-current place for family info beats a folder in a drawer or one parent's memory. Our guide to building a family emergency contact list covers the contact side in detail, and the complete guide to family organization ties it all together.

How Tell Chester keeps your emergency info ready

Tell Chester's family vault keeps your emergency contacts, medications, allergies, doctors, and each family member's key details in one shared place, accessible from everyone's phone. Instead of a plan that lives in one person's head or a paper that's out of date, the whole family — and any caregiver you share it with — can pull up exactly what's needed the moment it matters. See how it works on the Tell Chester family organization app page.

Frequently asked questions