Gear doesn’t help if no one knows where it is or what to do. A family emergency plan can be one page and still make a real difference.
1. Contacts
Write down: out-of-area contact, school/work numbers, medical info, and utility emergency lines. Phones die; paper doesn’t need a charge.
2. Meeting places
Pick two places: one near your home (if you must leave the house but stay in the neighborhood) and one outside the neighborhood (if you can’t return home). Make sure every family member knows both.
3. Where the kit lives
Choose one primary location for the household kit (closet, garage shelf, under a bed) and show everyone. Smaller go-bags can live by the door or in car trunks.
4. Roles for kids and adults
Age-appropriate jobs reduce chaos: who grabs the pet carrier, who has the flashlight, who texts the out-of-area contact. Practice once so it isn’t theoretical.
5. A 30-minute walkthrough
- Write contacts and meeting places on one sheet
- Put the sheet in the kit and on the fridge
- Check flashlights and power banks
- Note gaps (water, first aid, meds) and fill them next shopping trip
6. Review twice a year
When clocks change is a good reminder to rotate food, water, batteries, and medications.
PrepSmart Supply’s guide Your First 72 Hours is built as a printable workbook for this kind of planning. Pair it with a stocked first aid kit and reliable light so the plan isn’t only on paper.
This is general preparedness guidance, not a substitute for official emergency instructions in your area.