Make a Paper Emergency Contact Plan Your Household Can Follow
September 9, 2026
A household contact plan should still be understandable when the person who normally organises everything is unavailable. That is a useful design test even before you think about a power cut.
The American Red Cross recommends a support network and a paper contact list for extended outages. The format below is our own practical worksheet for making that advice usable.
Put actions beside names
A name and phone number do not explain what someone has agreed to do. Your list should make the relationship clear.
| Role | Details to record | Agreement to make |
|---|---|---|
| Household contact | Name and number | Who receives the first update? |
| Backup contact | Name and number | What happens if the first person is unreachable? |
| Nearby support | Name and safe way to reach them | What help have they actually offered? |
| Alternative location | Address and contact | When and how could we use it? |
| Essential service | Provider and relevant contact route | Which questions can they answer? |
Ask people before putting them into a support role. Avoid sharing one person’s private contact details with a large group without their agreement.
Agree what a useful update looks like
A short update can have four fields: who is reporting, their location, whether they need help and when they expect to check in again.
For a rehearsal, an example could be: “Sam and Lee are at the agreed address. We are safe. We do not need transport. Next update at the time we agreed.” This is a communication template, not a rule for managing an emergency. Immediate danger calls for the appropriate local emergency service.
The point is to reduce follow-up questions. “All good” may leave a relative wondering whether everyone is together or whether the message is hours old.
Keep the page easy to read
Use clear names rather than nicknames that only one person recognises. Write international dialling codes where relevant. Put the date at the top and keep essential information on the first page.
Decide where copies belong: somewhere accessible at home, with the household’s important documents and with trusted people who need the plan. Store sensitive information carefully. You generally do not need passwords, account credentials or an entire medical history on a contact sheet.
Rehearse without sending an alarm
Tell participants in advance that you are checking the plan. Ask each person to locate the page and describe their first step in a made-up scenario. Do not call emergency services as a practice exercise.
Notice any point where someone says “I would ask you”. That may reveal a missing number, an unclear address or an assumption that only one person understands.
Correct those gaps, then agree when to review the plan. A changed number or a move can make an old sheet misleading.
For the practical household tasks behind the contact list, use the power-outage dependency checklist. The two pages can be stored together.
Cole Danforth’s When the Lights Don’t Come Back offers related reading on the broader theme of prolonged disruption. This article is an original planning aid, not an account of the book’s contents.