How Do I Make a Family Emergency Communication Plan?

Your emergency kit covers your physical needs. Your communication plan covers everything else. How your family finds each other, how you make decisions, and how you stay connected when normal routines fall apart.

FEMA and the American Red Cross both identify a family communication plan as one of the three most important things you can do to prepare. The good news: it takes less than an hour to put together.

The five things your plan needs to cover

  1. An out-of-state contact
    When cell networks get congested during a local emergency, text instead of calling. Texts use far less bandwidth and are more likely to get through, even when voice calls aren't connecting.
    Choose one person, a relative, or a close friend who lives outside your region. Everyone in your family should have this person's number memorized or written down. This person becomes your family's communication hub if local lines are down.
  2. A meeting place near home
    Choose a spot within two blocks of your house. If you need to evacuate quickly and can't communicate, every family member heads here first. A neighbor's driveway, a corner landmark, a community mailbox, something familiar and easy to find.
  3. A meeting place farther away
    If your neighborhood is inaccessible, where does your family go? Choose a location farther out such as a school, a library, or a family member's home as a secondary meeting point.
  4. Phone numbers written on paper
    Your phone can run out of battery, get lost, or stop working. Write the key numbers on a small card: your out-of-state contact, close family members, your children's school, and a local emergency line. Keep one copy with your emergency kit and give one to each family member old enough to carry it.
  5. School and childcare pickup plan
    Know exactly how your children will be released in an emergency. Most schools have specific protocols. Find out what they are, and make sure your children know who is authorized to pick them up if you can't get there yourself.

Keep it simple

A family communication plan doesn't need to be a formal document. A single index card per family member is enough. What matters is that everyone knows the plan before anything happens.

Practice it once. Drive the route to your meeting places. Make sure the kids can recite the out-of-state contact's phone number. That's the whole exercise.

A plan your family has practiced is worth far more than a detailed document no one has read.

Ready-made tools for this exact plan

If you'd rather fill in a printed template than build this from scratch, we've done the layout work for you:
Your Family Communication Plan - a free printable that covers all five items above in one place.
Your Family Communication Wallet Card - a laminate-ready pocket version with your key contacts, one per family member.

Ready to pair your plan with a kit?

A communication plan and an emergency kit work together. The plan tells your family what to do. The kit gives them what they need once they get there.

Shop pre-assembled family emergency kits, ready to go.

The guidance on this page aligns with FEMA and American Red Cross preparedness recommendations.