What to Put in a Family Emergency Binder (Checklist + Sample Pages)
A family emergency binder keeps the facts your household needs in a crisis in one place you can grab: who to call, which medicines matter, where to meet and what to pack. Here is what to include in a family emergency binder, section by section, and why each part earns its place.
New to all this? Start small with our free one-page 72-hour go-bag checklist.
What Is a Family Emergency Binder?
It is a simple three-ring binder, sometimes called an in case of emergency binder, that holds your household's emergency plan on paper. Phones die and memory gets patchy under stress, but a binder works by flashlight, and anyone can open it: a partner, a grandparent, a babysitter or an older child.
Many binders online focus on estate paperwork, such as wills. This article is about the practical side: getting everyone out safely, staying home through a few hard days and finding each other if you are apart.
Ready.gov's Make a Plan page points out that your family may not be together when something happens, and suggests writing your plan down, including contacts, meeting places and medical information. The binder is where that written plan lives.
What to Include in a Family Emergency Binder: Quick Checklist
These are the seven sections we recommend. You do not need to finish them in one sitting.
- Local risks, meeting places and when to stay or go
- Go-bag checklist and a documents pouch
- Medical sheets for every person in the home
- Family, school and pet contacts and plans
- Pocket cards for each family member
- A stay-at-home plan for outages and storms
- Shopping lists that fit your budget
Everything on this list comes ready to print in the Family Guard binder, a 38-page fill-in workbook with a one-time cost of $39, if you would rather write in finished pages than design your own.
Sample Pages From the Family Guard Binder
Here are two pages from our own binder, shown small, to give you a feel for the format.
1. Local Risks, Meeting Places and When to Leave
Start with where you live. A household near a river plans differently from one in wildfire country. Write down the two or three hazards that are realistic for you, not every disaster on the news.
Then agree on meeting places. The American Red Cross suggests choosing two: one right outside your home, for a sudden emergency such as a fire, and one outside your neighborhood, in case you cannot get home or are asked to evacuate. Note a main and a backup route out.
Finally, write a few plain rules for when you stay and when you go. Most storms and outages are stay-at-home events. Leaving is for when officials tell you to, or when your home is no longer safe. Agreeing now saves an argument at the worst moment.
2. Go-Bag Checklist and Documents Pouch
A go-bag holds about three days of supplies for leaving home in a hurry, and the binder page makes sure it gets packed and stays packed. If you are starting from zero, our 72-hour go-bag checklist walks through what to pack, and you can download it as a free one-page printable.
This section also answers a common question: what documents to take when evacuating. Keep copies, not originals, in a sealed waterproof pouch. The Red Cross survival kit list includes copies of your medication list and medical information, proof of address, the deed or lease to your home, passports, birth certificates and insurance policies. Note where the originals are kept.
Add some cash in small bills too. Ready.gov notes that ATMs (cash machines) and credit cards may not work during a disaster.
3. Medical Sheets for Every Family Member
Medical details are the easiest thing to forget in a hurry and the hardest to rebuild from memory. Give each person a line or a page: medicines with dose and time, allergies, the prescribing doctor and pharmacy, and any devices they rely on, such as hearing aids, a glucose meter or a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine for sleep apnea.
An accurate list helps an urgent care doctor, a pharmacy away from home, or a relative looking after your children who needs to know about a peanut allergy.
The Red Cross recommends a 7-day supply of medications in your emergency kit, so note where that spare supply is and when it expires.
The Family Guard binder includes medical sheets like the prescription inventory shown above, plus pages for first aid supplies and special needs such as mobility aids and powered medical devices.
4. Family, School and Pet Contacts
Paper still works when a phone is dead. Write down numbers for everyone in the home, plus an out-of-area contact: one relative or friend who lives farther away. The Red Cross explains that it may be easier to text or call long distance when local lines are overloaded.
Add your children's school or daycare and the adults allowed to pick them up. Make sure those places have your numbers too. Then list your doctors, pharmacy, insurer, landlord and one neighbor you trust.
Pets need a plan of their own: your vet, an after-hours clinic, who could take the animals and what they eat. The Red Cross suggests keeping a list of pet-friendly hotels and animal shelters along your evacuation route, because if it is not safe for you to stay home, it is not safe for your pets either.
5. Pocket Cards for Each Family Member
The binder lives at home, but people do not. Small cut-out cards carry key phone numbers, meeting places, critical medicines and allergies into wallets, backpacks, the car and the go-bag. The Red Cross recommends that everyone carry emergency contact information in writing, and a card is the simplest way.
For young children, keep it short: their full name, a parent's phone number and where to meet.
The pocket cards in the Family Guard binder print four to a page, as in the sample above, so you can make a set for every adult and child.
6. A Stay-at-Home Plan
Not every emergency means leaving. A winter storm, a long power cut or a boil-water notice usually means staying put, and that needs its own plan: stored water, food that needs no cooking, light that is not a candle, a battery or hand-crank radio, a toilet backup and a safe way to stay warm or cool. The Red Cross suggests a two-week supply of water and food for home, compared with three days for evacuation.
Also record where your water, electric and gas shutoffs are. And never run a generator, grill or camp stove indoors or in a garage, because of carbon monoxide.
7. Shopping Lists That Fit Your Budget
Being prepared does not mean one big, expensive shopping trip. A buy list sorted by budget lets you start small and fill gaps over time: water, a flashlight and batteries, a first aid kit and copies of your identification first, then the rest.
The Family Guard binder has three ready-made shopping lists at $50, $200 and $500, each one building on the last.
How to Put Your Binder Together and Keep It Current
- Use a 1-inch three-ring binder with sheet protectors, so pages you update often can take a dry-erase marker.
- Fill it in with pencil. Phone numbers, schools and medicines change.
- Keep a digital copy or photos of the pages on each adult's phone, in case the paper copy is not with you.
- Store it in a spot everyone can name, near the go-bag.
- Review it every six months. The spring and fall clock changes are an easy reminder.
Ready.gov's last step is one many families skip: practice. Read the plan aloud together and walk to your meeting place. The Red Cross suggests practicing your evacuation twice a year.
Leave out full passwords, Social Security numbers and anything that would let a stranger empty an account; Ready.gov urges caution about sharing such details. Write down where sensitive records are kept instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is an Emergency Binder?
An emergency binder is a printed folder that holds your household's emergency plan: contacts, medical information, meeting places, go-bag and home supply lists, and copies of key details. A family emergency binder focuses on the emergency itself, so anyone in the home can act quickly.
How Do You Make a Family Emergency Binder?
Get a three-ring binder and sheet protectors, then add one section at a time: contacts and meeting places, medical sheets, a go-bag checklist, pet details, a stay-at-home plan and a shopping list. Fill it in with pencil and review it every six months.
What Important Papers Should You Take When Evacuating?
Take copies rather than originals: photo identification, insurance cards and policy numbers, a list of medicines and allergies, and emergency contacts. The American Red Cross also lists proof of address, the deed or lease to your home, passports and birth certificates. Keep them in a sealed waterproof pouch in your go-bag and note where the originals are stored.
What Should a Family Emergency Plan Include?
Ready.gov suggests starting with five questions: how you will receive emergency alerts and warnings, what your shelter plan is, what your evacuation route is, what your household communication plan is and whether your emergency kit needs updating. Write down contacts, meeting places and medical information too.
Official Guidance Used on This Page
- Make a Plan, Ready.gov (United States Federal Emergency Management Agency)
- Financial Preparedness, Ready.gov
- Make a Plan, American Red Cross
- Survival Kit Supplies, American Red Cross
This page is general household guidance. Follow instructions from your local emergency officials first.