Building a 72-Hour Emergency Plan Your Family Will Actually Use

Most households can list roughly what they'd grab in an emergency, but under real stress — smoke alarm going, phone dying, kids asking questions — that mental list falls apart. A 72-hour plan is a short written document that removes decisions from the moment they're hardest to make. It's not a bunker inventory; it's a bridge across the time it typically takes for utilities, roads or emergency services to get back to normal after a storm, flood, quake or major outage.

Seventy-two hours is a planning convention, not a guarantee. Some events resolve in hours, others drag on for a week or more. Treat the plan as a floor, not a ceiling.

Build this plan if you live somewhere with any realistic chance of storms, flooding, wildfire, extended power cuts or regional infrastructure failure — which is most places. It matters most for households with children, elderly relatives, pets or anyone on regular medication. It's less urgent, though still useful, for a single adult with flexible means and no dependents.

A written plan doesn't replace physical supplies, and it can't cover every disaster type equally — a plan built around a power cut looks different from one built around a wildfire evacuation. Don't treat it as finished once written; an unused, unpracticed plan is only marginally better than no plan.

1. 01

   List every household member and their needs. Names, ages, medications, mobility issues, and any equipment (inhalers, hearing aids, mobility aids) that can't be replaced quickly.

1. 01

   Pick two meeting points. One near home for a sudden local event, one further out in case the neighbourhood itself is inaccessible. Write the actual addresses, not "the usual spot."

1. 01

   Choose an out-of-area contact. Local phone networks can jam during regional disasters even when long-distance calls go through; a relative in another city or country can relay messages between family members.

1. 01

   Assign roles. Who grabs the documents folder, who gets the pets, who collects the youngest child from school if parents are separated when it happens.

1. 01

   List your 72 hours of supplies by category. Water, food, medication, sanitation, light, communication, cash — a checklist, not the items themselves.

1. 01

   Print it and store three copies. One at home, one in a car or bag, one with the out-of-area contact. Do not rely solely on a phone that might be dead or lost.

The sequence follows decision priority under stress: people first, then how they'll find each other, then who does what, then what they'll carry. Plans written item-first (starting with a gear list) tend to skip the coordination steps that actually prevent panic and separation, which is where most real harm during evacuations happens — not lack of gear.

Writing the plan once and never updating it is the biggest one — phone numbers change, medications change, kids grow out of car seats. Storing the only copy on a phone is another; if the phone is dead, lost or the network is down, the plan is useless exactly when needed. Overloading the plan with gear lists instead of decisions is a third — see what belongs in a 72-hour bag for the supplies side, and keep this document focused on people and coordination.

If a full written plan feels like too much to start, begin with just the out-of-area contact and the two meeting points — that alone solves the worst-case scenario of a scattered family unable to find each other. Add categories over time rather than trying to finish it in one sitting.

A plan cannot predict which disaster will happen, replace practical skills like comms when networks fail, or guarantee cooperation from panicked people in the moment. It also can't replace the physical grab-list for a fast exit — pair it with an evacuation checklist for that.

How often should we update it? Every time a phone number, medication, school or car seat changes, and otherwise do a five-minute review twice a year.

Should kids see the plan? Age-appropriate versions help. A child who knows the meeting point and one adult's phone number by heart is safer than one who doesn't.

Do we need one plan or several? One core document is enough, with brief notes for the two or three disaster types most likely where you live.

Ready.gov family emergency planning Norwegian directorate for civil protection, household preparedness