How to Make a Family Emergency Communication Plan on Ready.gov

Updated

Ready.gov provides a fillable Make a Plan Form you can complete online to record how your household will reach each other, where you will meet, and who your out-of-town contact is. Use it if you want a single written plan that every family member can carry and review. The form is the starting point; the plan only works if you print or save copies, share it with everyone listed, and update it when phone numbers or addresses change.

What the plan needs to cover

Before you open the form, gather the details you will need to enter. A workable family communication plan answers three questions:

  • How do we reach each other? Each person's mobile number, plus an agreed backup method (text instead of call, or a landline) if calls fail.
  • Where do we meet? Two meeting places: one right outside the home for a sudden local emergency, and one outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return home.
  • Who is our out-of-town contact? A friend or relative outside your region who can relay messages if local networks are overloaded.

Ready.gov's planning pages also cover planning for specific locations — home, work, school, and places in between — so the same contact list can be applied to each.

Steps to complete the form

  1. Go to the Make a Plan Form on Ready.gov (linked from the site's Plan Ahead section).
  2. Enter your household's contact information: names, mobile numbers, and email addresses for each member.
  3. Fill in your meeting places — the near-home spot and the out-of-area spot.
  4. Add your out-of-town contact's name and number.
  5. Add any additional emergency contacts, such as a neighbor or a relative's landline.
  6. Review the completed form, then print it or save a copy for each family member.

Expected result: a one- or two-page document each person can keep in a wallet, backpack, or on the refrigerator, so no one has to remember numbers under stress.

Make it usable, not just filled in

Filling the form is the easy part. These steps are what make it function in an actual emergency:

  • Give every family member a copy, including children old enough to carry one.
  • Store a copy in each vehicle and in your emergency kit. Ready.gov's Build a Kit page lists the supplies that belong alongside it.
  • Program the out-of-town contact into each phone under a clear name.
  • Teach everyone that text messages often get through when calls do not — Ready.gov's power outage guidance also recommends having alternative charging methods for your phone.
  • Review the plan on a set schedule and after any change: new phone number, move, new school, or a change in who is listed as the out-of-town contact.

Common snags

  • Relying on memory. The plan exists so no one has to recall numbers or addresses during a disruption.
  • One meeting place only. If the area around your home is evacuated, a nearby spot may be unreachable; the out-of-area meeting place covers that case.
  • Skipping the out-of-town contact. Local circuits are often congested in a regional event, which is exactly when a distant contact is most useful.
  • Never updating it. An outdated number is the same as no number.

Where it fits with the rest of Ready.gov

The communication plan is one piece of the broader preparedness material on the site, which also covers hurricanes, power outages, flooding, severe weather, tornadoes, home fires, and emergency alerts. Ready.gov notes that wireless emergency alerts let officials push life-saving information quickly, so keeping alerts enabled on your phone complements the written plan. The FEMA App is also offered for real-time weather and emergency alerts.

For a household that wants a written, shareable plan rather than an informal understanding, the Make a Plan Form is the fastest route: fill it in, print copies, distribute them, and set a reminder to review it.