Household Emergency Communication Plan Checklist

A household emergency communication plan should answer four questions:

1. How will everyone receive official warnings?
2. How will household members contact one another when separated?
3. Where will everyone meet?
4. Who will account for children, pets, medication, transportation, and assistance needs?

Write the plan down, distribute it, and practice it.

Ready.gov recommends planning in advance because household members may be in different locations when an emergency occurs and ordinary communication routes may be unreliable. ^[1]

Record household information

List each household member’s full name, primary and backup phone numbers, email address, home address, workplace or school, essential medical or accessibility information, languages used, and communication assistance required.

Do not place unnecessary sensitive medical or identity information on a child’s publicly visible card.

Choose one out-of-area contact

Select a trusted person outside the immediate area who agrees to help reconcile household messages.

Everyone should know the person’s name, phone number, email address, when to contact them, and what information to provide.

An out-of-area person may be reachable when local networks are congested or household members cannot contact one another directly.

Choose three meeting places

Immediately outside the home

Use this location for a fire or building evacuation. Choose a fixed point away from the structure and responding vehicles.

In the neighborhood

Use this location when the home or immediate street cannot be entered.

Outside the neighborhood

Use this location when the area is evacuated or transportation routes close.

Write exact locations. “Near the park” transforms an emergency into a scavenger hunt, which is an unnecessary genre shift.

Record school, childcare, and workplace plans

Obtain current information for evacuation locations, reunification procedures, authorized pickup rules, emergency contact numbers, shelter-in-place policies, transportation changes, and identification requirements.

Do not automatically travel toward a school or workplace during an emergency. Follow its current reunification instructions so an unplanned arrival does not obstruct operations.

Plan several communication methods

Use more than one route:

• text message;
• voice call;
• email;
• messaging application;
• landline;
• radio;
• designated meeting place;
• written note at an approved location.

Keep messages brief and specific. For example: “Safe at library. Going to north meeting point. Contacted Jordan at 3:20.”

Do not rely only on a cloud contact list. Keep printed numbers.

Register for official alerts

Identify authoritative alert sources for local government, weather, schools, workplaces, utilities, building management, and transportation.

Enable relevant emergency alerts and preserve a battery-powered radio when local hazards justify one.

Social posts can provide clues, but evacuation, shelter, water, weather, and public-safety instructions should be verified through official channels.

Plan for power loss

Keep charged power banks, correct charging cables, flashlights, a battery radio, printed contact cards, and spare batteries appropriate to the equipment.

Do not operate a generator, grill, vehicle, or another fuel-burning device in an enclosed area to charge electronics.

Conserve phone power by reducing screen use, background downloads, and nonessential communication.

Include medical and accessibility needs

Document medication names and schedules, pharmacy and clinician numbers, mobility equipment, communication devices, service-animal needs, refrigerated medication requirements, backup power arrangements, transportation assistance, and assigned helpers.

Identify more than one helper. A single assigned person may be absent or unable to reach the household.

Include pets

Record the veterinarian, microchip number, carrier or leash location, medication, photograph, evacuation destination, and backup caregiver.

Public shelters and hotels can have specific animal policies. Identify local arrangements before an evacuation rather than negotiating them while holding an uncontained cat and the last shreds of everyone’s patience.

Make printed cards

Each wallet or backpack card should include household contacts, the out-of-area contact, meeting places, essential medical-alert information, and emergency numbers.

Store copies in wallets, school bags, emergency supplies, vehicles, and with the out-of-area contact.

Practice the plan

Practice a home evacuation, daytime separation, unavailable cellular calls, neighborhood evacuation, one unreachable caregiver, a power outage, and school reunification.

During the exercise, send the planned message, contact the out-of-area person, travel to the meeting point, identify inaccessible routes, and update the written plan.

Keep it current

Review the plan after moving, changing schools or jobs, changing phone numbers, medical or accessibility changes, household membership changes, a drill, or a real emergency.

Write a revision date on every copy and destroy outdated copies containing personal information.

Bottom line

Choose contacts, meeting places, official alerts, alternate communication methods, and assigned helpers before an emergency. Print the plan and practice it. A contact list stored only on a phone with a dead battery is less a plan than an elegy for adequate preparation.

Limits and cautions

• No communication method is guaranteed to remain available during an emergency.
• Local evacuation, shelter, reunification, and public-safety instructions override a household plan.

Sources reviewed

Source notes

1. Make a PlanReady.gov

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