Your Family's 72 Hour Emergency Plan

Most families intend to get prepared. They just never quite get around to it. In FEMA's National Household Survey, only 37% of American households had made an emergency plan in the past year, not because the other 63% don't care, but because life is busy and "someday" is easy to postpone.

This guide is your someday. Set aside 30 minutes, follow these seven steps, and your family will have a real plan that's written down, practiced, and ready.

Here's a question to hold onto as you read: if your family had to leave home in ten minutes tonight, would everyone know where to meet?

By the end of this guide, the answer will be yes.

Why 72 Hours?

FEMA and the American Red Cross both recommend that every household be self-sufficient for a minimum of 72 hours after an emergency. During the first three days after a major event, roads may be impassable, stores may be closed, power may be out, and emergency services stretched thin.

The families who come through those 72 hours with the least stress are the ones who made their plan before they needed it. This guide walks you through exactly what that plan looks like.

Step 1: Know Your Risks

Before you can prepare, you need to know what you're preparing for. Every region faces different situations. Start by identifying the two or three most likely emergencies for your area:

• Colorado and the Mountain West: wildfires, winter storms, power outages
• Gulf Coast and Southeast: hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes
• Pacific Coast: earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires
• Midwest: tornadoes, severe winter storms, flooding
• Northeast and Mid-Atlantic: nor'easters, hurricanes, flooding, extended power outages
• Everywhere: power outages, house fires, medical emergencies

Visit ready.gov to look up your area's highest-risk scenarios, and build your plan around your most likely ones first.

Step 2: Build Your Emergency Kit

Your kit is the physical foundation of your plan. A complete 72-hour household kit covers seven categories:

• Water: for drinking and sanitation
• Food: non-perishable, no cooking or refrigeration required
• First aid: supplies plus everyone's prescription medications
• Light and communication: flashlights, a weather radio, backup phone power
• Shelter and warmth: emergency blankets, a change of clothes, sturdy shoes
• Tools and documents: a whistle, a multi-tool, copies of IDs and insurance, and phone numbers written on paper
• Hygiene and sanitation: the category families most often overlook

How much water per person? Which foods actually last five years? What goes in the document pouch? The exact quantities and a printable, check-it-off list are in our free 72-Hour Plan. Download it from the Free Checklists Hub and you can build your kit this weekend.

Prefer it done for you? Kits like our Guardian Go Bag and RapidShield are packed to follow the 72-hour guidelines with US Coast Guard approved food and water included, no research or assembly required. Browse household kits.

Step 3: Make Your Family Communication Plan

Every member of your household needs to know four things:

An out-of-state contact: During a local emergency, local phone lines can get jammed. It's often easier to reach someone out of state than across town. Choose one relative or close friend in another state, and make sure every family member has their number memorized and written down.

Quick check: does your child know at least one phone number by heart? If the answer is "it's in their phone," that's tonight's dinner-table conversation.

A meeting place near your home: If an emergency forces you out quickly, where does your family gather? Choose a specific landmark such as a neighbor's mailbox, the end of your street, a particular tree. Everyone should know it without having to think.

A meeting place outside your neighborhood: If you can't get back to your street, where do you meet? A school, church, or community center works well.

What to do if you get separated: Children especially need to know who to call, where to go, and which trusted adults they can ask for help.

Write all of this down. Keep a copy in your emergency kit and a copy in each family member's backpack or school bag.

Step 4: Plan Your Evacuation Routes

Identify at least two ways out of your neighborhood heading in different directions. Road closures can make your primary route impassable, so always have a backup.

Know the locations of:

• Your nearest emergency shelter (your county's emergency management website lists them)
• At least two pet-friendly hotels along each evacuation route
• Your nearest hospital and urgent care
• Your children's school's emergency release policy

Keep a paper map in your car and in your kit. GPS needs a signal and a charged battery, a paper map always works.

Step 5: Plan for Everyone in Your Household

Children: Kids who know what to do in an emergency experience far less fear. Walk them through the plan in age-appropriate terms, and give them a role. Even carrying their own backpack gives a child a sense of purpose and calm. A dedicated children's emergency kit with age-appropriate supplies helps too.

Seniors and family members with medical needs: Keep a 72-hour supply of prescription medications in the kit at all times, along with a written list of medications, dosages, and prescribing physicians. If anyone relies on medical equipment that needs power, plan for what happens if that power is out.

Pets: Pets need their own 72-hour supply of food, water, and medications. Many shelters can't accept animals without their own supplies, so know your pet-friendly options in advance and keep vaccination records and a current photo with your emergency documents. A packed pet kit is your pet's ticket to staying with your family.

Step 6: Store and Maintain Your Kit

Choose a spot every adult in the house knows and can reach quickly such as a hallway closet, the garage, under a bed. Avoid places that could become inaccessible, like a basement that floods.

Your USCG-approved food and water won't need rotating for five years, but the twice-a-year check still matters for medications, documents, and batteries.
(read our "How often to check or refresh your kit")

Step 7: Practice

A plan you've never practiced is a plan that falls apart under pressure. Once a year, walk your family through it. Time how long it takes to grab your kit and get out the door. Run through the communication plan with your kids, confirm your out-of-state contact knows they're your contact, and drive your evacuation routes once so they're familiar.

The goal isn't to worry about emergencies. It's to be ready for them so if one arrives, your family moves with confidence instead of panic.

You're One Step Away From Being Ready

You're in good company: FEMA's 2024 survey found 83% of Americans took at least three preparedness actions in the past year, up from 57% the year before. Families everywhere are doing exactly what you just read about and the ones who finish the job are the ones who make it simple.

The easiest way to make it simple: start with a kit that's already packed. Kits like our Guardian Go Bag and RapidShield are packed to follow the 72-hour guidelines with US Coast Guard approved food and water included, ready to grab the moment you need it. Add your communication plan and evacuation routes around it, and you're done.

You'll sleep better knowing it's handled.

Know another family who keeps meaning to get around to this? Send them this guide, it's a 30-minute head start on peace of mind.