The government's Be Ready guidance says to use a printable household emergency plan and keep it with your important documents. This page explains what goes on it and why. Our free printable template has the same headings with space to write.
The plan in nine parts
Who we are
Names, dates of birth, medical conditions, medication, allergies, and mobility or communication needs for everyone in the household, including pets. This is the page you hand to a paramedic or a rest centre volunteer.
How we get out
Two escape routes from each bedroom for fire, and the route out of the house and area for flood. Which windows open, where the keys are kept at night, who helps whom. Walk it with children. In a fire: get out, stay out, call 999; never go back in.
Where we meet
A near meeting point for leaving the house (a lamp post, a neighbour's gate) and a far one for leaving the area (a relative's home, a named building). Everyone knows both.
Who we call, and who calls us
Key numbers on paper: family, an out-of-area contact, neighbours, GP, pharmacy, school, employer, landlord or lender, insurer, vet, 105 for power cuts, your water company. Agree that in a crisis everyone texts the out-of-area contact rather than ringing each other, and a time to try again if nothing gets through.
Who we check on
Anyone who may need help: an older relative, a neighbour living alone, someone with medical equipment. Who visits them if they cannot be reached by phone, and who takes over if that person is away. This is the part of the guidance most people skip and the part that saves lives in a power cut.
Where things are
The kit, the grab bag, the document folder, the torches, the stopcock, the gas and electricity shut-offs, the fuse box, the spare keys. Labelled, and written down for the person who did not pack them.
School and work
The school's emergency collection procedure and who is authorised to collect. Your employer's plan for when staff cannot be contacted. Make sure the school has every current number.
Pets
Where the carrier is, who takes the dog, which friend or kennel would have them, microchip numbers, vaccination records.
If we have to leave
What we take (the grab bag and the five-minute list), what we turn off, where we go, how we tell people we have gone. For flood-risk homes, what gets moved upstairs first.
In your phone too
- Medical ID / Emergency information on the lock screen: conditions, medication, allergies, emergency contacts. Paramedics look for it.
- ICE contacts: two people saved as "ICE Mum", "ICE Sam". Still widely understood.
- Emergency Alerts switched on in settings, so severe weather warnings reach you with a loud tone.
- Offline maps of your area downloaded.
- A photo of the plan, so you have it when you are not at home.
Practise it, lightly
Walk the fire escape routes once with everyone, including the bit where you open the window. Visit the meeting point. Ask the children to tell you the address and a phone number. Try the stopcock. Tune the radio. It takes an hour and it should feel like a game, not a warning. Then put the plan on the fridge and a copy in the kit and the grab bag, and forget about it until the kit check.
Our printable household plan has these nine sections laid out on two sides of A4 with lines to fill in. Print it, write it, stick it up. No sign-up needed.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
The principles are identical. Ready Scotland and NI Direct publish their own household plan templates and local advice, including the Northern Ireland power cut number (03457 643 643) and the Customer Care Register, which is the Northern Ireland equivalent of the Priority Services Register.
Common questions
Do I really need a written plan?
Yes, because the moment you need it is the moment you cannot think. A fire at 3 a.m., a flood warning while you are at work and the children are at school, a parent who has not answered the phone during a power cut. The plan is the thinking you did in advance. One side of paper, in the kit and on the fridge.
Where should our meeting point be?
Somewhere public, easy to find, a short walk away and unlikely to be affected by the same event: a particular lamp post at the end of the road for a house fire, and a friend's or relative's home further away for anything that affects the whole street. Tell children the exact spot and walk there with them once.
What should I put in my phone?
Emergency contacts and medical information in the lock-screen feature: Medical ID on iPhone, Emergency information on Android. Paramedics check it. Also save an out-of-area contact and label two people as ICE (In Case of Emergency). Think about how much to share; for most people the benefit is worth it.
How often should we go over it?
Twice a year with the kit check, and whenever something changes: a new school, a new job, a new baby, an older relative moving nearby. Walk through it with children as a game, not a drill.