Family Preparedness: Start Here

Start with the plan, not the gear.

Write down two meeting points: one close to home and one outside your immediate neighborhood. Choose an out-of-area contact everyone can call or text if local networks are overloaded. Put the numbers on paper as well as in your phones.

Build a communications-down plan.

• Decide what family members should do if calls and texts do not go through.
• Keep printed contacts in wallets, school bags, work bags, and go kits.
• Download offline maps and know more than one route home.
• Use short family text codes that are easy to remember and hard to misunderstand.

Cover the essentials.

• Keep at least a one-week household buffer of food and drinking water when practical.
• Maintain extra essential medications when your provider and insurance allow it.
• Keep flashlights, charging cables, power banks, basic first aid, sturdy shoes, and a modest amount of cash available.
• Store copies of IDs, insurance information, medical information, and emergency contacts securely in both paper and digital form.

Think about the people who need more planning.

Children, older relatives, people with disabilities, anyone who relies on powered medical equipment, and pets need to be part of the plan before an emergency. Decide who is responsible for medications, carriers, mobility equipment, school pickup, and checking on relatives or neighbors.

Practice calmly.

Walk through how you would leave the house, where you would meet if separated, and what you would do if your normal route were blocked. Preparedness should make a family feel more capable, not more frightened.

Start with the basics. Build from there. A simple plan that everyone understands is more useful than a complicated plan nobody has practiced.