Family emergency plan

What It Means

A family emergency plan is the set of decisions a household makes before a disaster about how everyone will get in touch, where they will meet and what each person will do. Ready.gov, the federal government's preparedness site run by FEMA, asks families to sit down together ahead of time and write these down. The plan usually names an out-of-town contact, a few meeting places and how you'll get out or shelter for the emergencies most likely where you live.

How It Sounds at Home

• "If anything happens, we meet at the mailbox."
• "Aunt Rosa in Ohio is our out-of-state contact."
• "Text, don't call, the lines will be jammed."

The Breakdown

How to make one, following Ready.gov

1. Sit down together and talk through what could happen where you live, such as fires, storms or floods.
2. Choose an out-of-town contact. Ready.gov's communication plan card has room for their name, mobile and home numbers and email, and everyone in the house should know who it is.
3. Pick meeting places. Ready.gov's form lists four: indoors, in the neighborhood, outside the neighborhood, and out of town. Choose somewhere familiar and easy to find.
4. Write down everyone's phone numbers on paper too. Buhata's own suggestion is to add schools, workplaces and doctors, so nobody depends on a phone that may be dead or lost.
5. Agree to text first. Ready.gov's communication plan card says "Text, don't talk."
6. Fill in Ready.gov's Make a Plan form, and give each person a copy for their bag or wallet.
7. Practice the parts you can, such as walking to the meeting place (Buhata's own suggestion).

Try it today. Tonight at dinner, agree on one meeting place outside your home and one out-of-town contact, and write both down.

The four meeting places on Ready.gov's form

The examples are Buhata's own; pick places that fit your area.

Good to Know

In a fire, get out first and call 911 from outside. Ready.gov's home fire advice is to crawl low under smoke and leave, and Buhata's fire escape planFire escape planA household's agreed way out in a fire: two exits from every room, an outside meeting place, and a drill practiced at least twice a year. See more page covers mapping two ways out of every room. When local officials order an evacuation, follow their instructions and routes; Ready.gov notes the route may be on foot. Buhata's own suggestion is to look the plan over once a year and whenever someone moves, changes school or gets a new phone number, and to keep it beside your emergency kitEmergency kitA packed set of water, food, light, first aid and other basics that lets a household get through several days on its own after a disaster. See more.

Related Terms and Categories

• Emergency kit

  A packed set of water, food, light, first aid and other basics that lets a household get through several days on its own after a disaster.

• Fire escape plan

  A household's agreed way out in a fire: two exits from every room, an outside meeting place, and a drill practiced at least twice a year.

• Family command center

  One central spot at home, often a wall by the entry or in the kitchen, where the family keeps its shared calendar, papers, lists and everyday items.

• Home inventory

  A room-by-room record of what you own, with photos, values and receipts, kept to prove a loss to your insurer after a fire, theft or storm.

• Emergency fund

  Money set aside only for unplanned costs, like a car repair, a medical bill or a lost paycheck, kept where you can reach it quickly.

• Family meeting

  A short, regular sit-down where everyone in the household shares news, looks ahead at the week and makes decisions together.

Family organization and routines