Emergency plan template
Be prepared, not worried. Fill it in here, print it, put it on the fridge
Household emergency plan
4 people
What is most likely here
Where we meet
Who we call
One person a few states away. Local lines jam first, and everyone calls the same number.
If we have to leave
Shutoffs
Where it is and what it takes to turn it. The tool matters as much as the location.
School pickup
Medical
The other half of the plan
Your plan has a place to shelter. How long can you stay there?
It names a meeting spot and a phone number. It does not count what is on your shelves. Provision Planner counts it: days of food and water, what expires when, and what to buy next.
See how many days of food and water my house hasWhy this is one page
The version that works in a real emergency is short enough that a ten year old can recite it: the meeting spot and the phone number, from memory, with no paper in hand. That is why this fits on one sheet instead of running to twelve pages of policy.
Print it more than once. One on the fridge, one in each bag, one at the out of town contact's house. Paper works when the phones do not, which is most of the first day.
What the plan leaves out
A meeting spot and a phone number are the easy half.
The harder half is whether the house can actually feed everyone once you are all standing in it. Provision Planner counts what you own against that: days of food and water, what expires when, and what to buy next.
See how many days of food and water my house hasDays covered
6 of 14
Live tracking · expiry warnings · barcode scan
The next questions, answered
What should a family emergency plan include?
Six things, and they fit on one page: where you meet if you cannot get home, one out of town contact everyone memorizes, how you would leave and what each person carries, where the gas, water and electric shutoffs are and what it takes to turn them, who collects the children and whose name is on the school's release list, and any medical details a stranger would need to know. Pets need their own line, because most shelters will not take them.
Why an out of town contact instead of a local one?
Local phone networks jam first in a regional emergency, and a call that has to cross the same overloaded towers often will not connect. A contact a few states away is usually reachable when neighbors are not, so everyone calls that one person and the person relays. Text before you call: a text will frequently get through on a network too congested to carry a voice call.
Where should the plan actually live?
On the fridge, in each person's bag or wallet, and somewhere you can reach it if the house is not accessible. Paper matters because phones die and networks fail, but paper also goes out of date quietly. Keeping the plan somewhere you will actually revise it is what stops it describing a household you no longer have.
How often should an emergency plan be reviewed?
Twice a year is the usual advice, and the real trigger is change rather than the calendar. A new phone number, a new school, a new baby, a new pet or a move makes the old plan wrong in the exact places you will need it to be right.
Does a plan replace having supplies?
No, they answer different questions. A plan says where everyone goes and who they call. It says nothing about whether the house can feed those people for three days without a shop or a working stove, which is a separate count of what is actually on your shelves.
Provision Planner
Be prepared, not worried.
Worry is not a plan. Knowing is: exactly how many days your family is covered, what expires next, and what to buy this month. That is the whole product.
See my days of food and water