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Preparedness25 min hands-onover 1 hreasy

Make a Family Emergency Plan

Everyone knows where to go and who to call when the unexpected hits.

Worth +8 to Preparedness

0 / 5 steps

You keep thisHousehold Emergency CardWhere to meet, who to call, where the shutoffs are. Fill it in once, print it for the fridge.See the card

The steps

Tick them as you go. Your progress is kept even if you leave.

  1. Step 15 min

    Pick two meet-up spots

    A plan that assumes everyone is home is not a plan. Plenty of emergencies happen mid-Tuesday.

    One near the house - the end of the drive, a specific tree, the neighbor’s mailbox - for a fire, when the only goal is out and accounted for.

    One outside the neighborhood for when you cannot get back: a church parking lot, a library, a relative across town.

    Be specific enough that a ten-year-old could not get it wrong. "The park" is not a meet-up spot. "The flagpole at Veterans Park" is.

    Ready.gov, Make A Plan

    Two meet-up pointsOne spot just outside the house for a fire, and one outside the neighbourhood for when you cannot get home.1Near homeFire. Out and counted.2Out of the areaWhen you cannot get back.
  2. Step 25 min

    Choose one out-of-area contact

    Local lines jam first. A long-distance number often goes through when nothing nearby will.

    Pick someone several states away. Everyone checks in with that one person, and that person becomes the switchboard - so nobody has to reach everybody.

    Everyone memorizes the number or carries it written down. A number that only exists in a dead phone is not a contact.

    Tell them they are the contact. It is a short, slightly strange phone call, and it is the whole job.

    Ready.gov, Make A Plan

  3. Step 310 min

    Find your water and power shutoffs

    This is the one thing on the card that has to be learned before you need it - in daylight, without hurry.

    First: You may need a meter key for the water main. A hardware store sells one for a few dollars.

    Walk to the main water shutoff and the breaker panel and put your hands on them. Write down where they are in plain words.

    If you have gas, find the meter valve too, but leave it alone. Do not turn gas off as practice. Once it is off it should only be turned back on by the utility.

  4. Step 43 min

    Fill in the card and put it where the family can see it

    The plan in your head is not the plan. The plan on the fridge is.

    Fill in the four fields on your Household Emergency Card, then print it or screenshot it.

    One on the fridge. One in each vehicle. One in each kid’s bag.

  5. Step 510 min

    Walk it through once, out loud

    Every plan has one obvious hole, and it only shows up when somebody says it back to you.

    When: Ten minutes at a meal, not a drill

    Ask the questions rather than giving the answers. Where do we meet if the house is on fire? Who do you call if you cannot reach me? What if it happens while you are at school?

    Keep it calm and short. The goal is that the kids have thought about it once already, not that they are frightened of it.