An Emergency Plan is a tool that families use to assess the potential risks in their community and plan their actions in response to those risks. By preparing for evacuation or shelter-in-place orders, each family member can improve their reaction time during an emergency.

Different regions may face different levels of risks from natural disasters or human-caused hazards. So, it’s important to create an Emergency Plan that prepares your family for potential disasters.

For instance, some locations may be more susceptible to major flooding, while others may be at risk of severe gales or storms. Likewise, people who live near industrial sites, factories, or major transportation routes could be impacted by accidents, explosions, or chemical spills.

An Emergency Plan is also known as a/an:

• Personal evacuation plan
• Family emergency response plan
• Emergency preparedness plan for home

LawDepot’s Emergency Plan template will guide you through the planning process. Simply answer the questionnaire to generate your custom family plan. To complete the template, you’ll need to provide the following information:

• Family members’ health and contact information
• Emergency contacts (local services and personal contacts)
• Mapped escape routes (optional)
• Designated meeting places during an evacuation
• Instructions for safe indoor locations
• Insurance policies (optional)

LawDepot’s Emergency Plan also includes checklists to help you prepare the essential documents and items that are useful during emergencies. Disasters often require a quick response time, so gathering these things in advance helps ensure you have what you need when you need it.

An effective evacuation requires planned emergency exits and designated safe spaces.

Our Emergency Plan template prompts you to include a home escape route, which is a floor plan of your home that shows possible ways to escape from every room. You can draw this floor plan by hand or on the computer.

If needed, prepare to escape from windows with ladders or ropes and add instructions for doing so. Consider how evacuation routines may differ depending on the emergency. For instance, think about how plans can change if there is a fire, flood, blocked exit, or separation of family members. You’ll also have to account for the physical needs of each family member and plan escape routes that everyone can navigate safely.

After you evacuate your home, meet your family members in a safe location. Our questionnaire asks you for meeting areas both outside your home and outside your community. Some municipalities may designate storm shelters when needed, but you can also choose your own meeting points.

It’s important to explain and rehearse your Emergency Plan with your entire household, especially any young children you may have. The commotion of evacuation may be confusing and frightening for kids, but you can reduce their anxiety by teaching them the rules and procedures in advance.

If you use childcare, consider coordinating your home evacuation drills with those of your child care provider. Nurseries, daycares, and schools regularly have evacuation plans and carry out drills to familiarise children with the process. Reinforce the importance of preparing for emergencies by explaining how evacuations and shelter-in-place orders can happen at home too.

In general, you can prepare your family for emergencies by:

• Discussing your Emergency Plan in-depth
• Conducting rehearsals for different scenarios
• Assigning specific duties (such as grabbing emergency kits or giving first aid)
• Reviewing and updating your plan regularly

Severe weather, industrial accidents, or public health emergencies may call for people to shelter in place (i.e., lockdown and stay indoors) until the danger recedes.

LawDepot’s Emergency Plan template prompts you to choose a safe indoor location, but where you go and how you wait out the danger will vary depending on your circumstances.

For instance, if severe storms bring heavy rain, snow, or gale-force winds, you might seek shelter in a room with few windows or doors. If trapped inside, having a well-stocked emergency kit ensures you have enough food, water, and equipment to get through a few days without access to services.

After you’ve chosen a safe place inside, you can add extra instructions such as:

• Closing doors or windows
• Insulating or heating your home without power
• Turning off mechanical systems, if needed

Our questionnaire guides you through an evaluation of your home’s mechanical systems. It’s important to know where water valves and electrical panels are, how to access them, and when to turn them on or off. Plus, hazard proofing and keeping your house systems in good repair helps avoid further problems later.

An emergency kit is a package of basic tools and supplies that may be essential for survival during an emergency or disaster. Each kit should contain enough supplies to help you get through at least 72 hours without access to services.

When assembling emergency kits, use backpacks or containers that are easy to grab and go. You can create a large family kit, but individual kits are easier to transport and helpful if family members get separated. Our emergency kit checklist reminds you to pack essentials such as:

• Food and water
• Medical items
• Safety items and basic equipment
• Clothing and toiletries
• Cash and important documents

In addition to an emergency kit, it’s important to prepare a first aid kit and gather photocopies of important documents (such as IDs and insurance policies). Our template’s checklists are thorough and will guide you through these emergency preparation tasks.