Category: Aging Well
Creating an Emergency Plan for Aging at Home
Emergencies can interrupt the routines and services that make living at home possible.
A power outage may affect medical equipment. Severe weather may prevent a caregiver from arriving. An evacuation may require accessible transportation. A fall or sudden illness may make it difficult to reach a phone, unlock the door, or explain important medical information.
An emergency plan helps you decide what to do before you are under pressure.
The plan should reflect your health, mobility, medications, communication needs, home, location, transportation, pets, and available support. A generic supply list is useful, but it cannot replace a plan built around your actual needs.
Identify the Emergencies You May Face
Begin with the emergencies most likely to affect your home and community.
These may include:
- Fire.
- Power outage.
- Severe heat or cold.
- Hurricane.
- Flood.
- Tornado.
- Winter storm.
- Earthquake.
- Wildfire.
- Gas leak.
- Water outage.
- Medical emergency.
- Fall or injury.
- Caregiver cancellation.
- Medication problem.
- Evacuation.
Different situations require different responses. A fire may require leaving immediately, while a storm may require remaining at home for several days.
Learn which emergencies are common in your area and how local officials communicate warnings.
Consider Your Individual Needs
Think about what you need to remain safe during an ordinary day.
Ask:
- Do I use a walker, cane, wheelchair, or other mobility device?
- Do I use oxygen or medical equipment that requires electricity?
- Do any medications require refrigeration?
- Do I need help bathing, dressing, eating, or using the bathroom?
- Could I leave the home without assistance?
- Can I hear alarms and emergency announcements?
- Can I read standard print?
- Could I communicate my needs to a responder?
- Do I rely on a caregiver, transportation provider, or meal service?
- Do memory or thinking changes affect my ability to follow instructions?
- Would I need help taking pets with me?
- Could I remain safely at home without heat, air conditioning, water, or electricity?
Write down anything that could create difficulty during an emergency. Each concern should have a primary plan and, when possible, a backup.
Ready.gov provides an emergency-planning guide for older adults that can help you identify personal needs.
Build an Emergency Support Network
Do not rely on only one person.
Choose at least two or three trusted people who could:
- Check on you.
- Bring supplies.
- Help you evacuate.
- Contact family.
- Speak with emergency responders.
- Care for a pet.
- Provide temporary transportation.
- Help manage medications or medical equipment.
Your network may include:
- Family members.
- Friends.
- Neighbors.
- Building staff.
- Caregivers.
- Healthcare providers.
- Members of a religious or community group.
Make sure these people know:
- How to contact you.
- Where you may go during an evacuation.
- Where emergency information is stored.
- How to enter your home if you cannot reach the door.
- What assistance you may need.
- Who else is part of the plan.
Ask before listing someone as an emergency helper. Confirm what that person can realistically do.
Create an Emergency Contact List
Keep a printed contact list in an easy-to-find location.
Include:
-
- Family and friends.
- Neighbors.
- Healthcare providers.
- Pharmacy.
- Home-care agency.
- Medical-equipment supplier.
- Utility companies.
- Insurance companies.
- Building manager or landlord.
- Local emergency-management office.
- Transportation providers.
- Veterinarian or pet-care contact.
Keep copies:
- Near the main telephone.
- In your wallet or emergency bag.
- With a trusted person.
- In your phone.
- With your medical information.
Do not rely entirely on a mobile phone. It may be lost, damaged, uncharged, or unable to connect.
Helpful Resources: Browse Emergency Information for products, equipment, services, or supplies related to this section.
Prepare Medical Information
Create a current medical information sheet containing:
- Full name.
- Date of birth.
- Emergency contacts.
- Medical conditions.
- Allergies.
- Medications and dosages.
- Pharmacy information.
- Healthcare providers.
- Health insurance.
- Medical devices.
- Communication needs.
- Mobility needs.
- Advance-directive information.
Review the list after every medication or health change.
Consider wearing medical identification if you have a condition, allergy, implanted device, or medication that responders should know about immediately.
Helpful Resources: Browse Health & Caregiving Information for products, equipment, services, or supplies related to this section.
Plan for Medications
Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist:
- How much medication you should keep available.
- How to obtain an emergency refill.
- What to do if a dose is missed.
- How medications should be stored.
- What to do if refrigeration is unavailable.
- Whether any medication can be temporarily substituted.
Keep medications in their labeled containers when possible.
Your emergency supplies should include:
- Current medications.
- Medication list.
- Pharmacy contact information.
- Necessary over-the-counter supplies.
- Items needed to measure or administer medication.
Do not stop, change, or ration prescription medication without professional guidance unless immediate circumstances leave no alternative.
Plan for Medical Equipment and Power
If you rely on powered medical equipment, make a specific outage plan.
Equipment may include:
- Oxygen concentrator.
- Ventilator.
- CPAP machine.
- Power wheelchair.
- Adjustable bed.
- Feeding pump.
- Refrigerated medication.
- Home dialysis equipment.
- Communication device.
Ask the equipment supplier:
- How long backup batteries last.
- How to recharge equipment safely.
- Whether backup batteries are available.
- What manual alternatives exist.
- Where replacement supplies can be obtained.
- Whether the equipment can be used at an emergency shelter.
Contact the utility company to ask whether it maintains a medical-needs registry or priority-restoration program. Enrollment does not guarantee uninterrupted power, so you still need a backup plan.
Know where you could go if power is not restored quickly. This might be a family member’s home, a designated shelter, a hospital, or another location with dependable electricity.
Never operate a portable generator indoors, inside a garage, or near doors and windows. Improper generator use can cause fatal carbon monoxide poisoning.
Build an Emergency Supply Kit
Prepare supplies for several days based on your local emergency guidance and individual needs.
Include:
- Water.
- Nonperishable food.
- Manual can opener.
- Medications.
- Flashlights.
- Extra batteries.
- Battery-powered or hand-crank radio.
- Phone chargers and backup battery.
- First-aid supplies.
- Basic hygiene items.
- Face masks.
- Weather-appropriate clothing.
- Blankets.
- Copies of important documents.
- Emergency contact list.
- Some cash in small bills.
- Extra glasses.
- Hearing-aid batteries.
- Mobility-device supplies.
- Incontinence supplies, if needed.
- Pet food and supplies.
Choose food that fits your dietary and medical needs and can be prepared without electricity.
Store supplies somewhere you can reach. A kit is not useful if it is too heavy to move or located in an inaccessible basement or closet.
Review Ready.gov’s emergency-kit guidance and adapt it to your needs.
Helpful Resources: Browse Emergency Food & Water for products, equipment, services, or supplies related to this section.
Prepare a Smaller Evacuation Bag
You may not be able to carry your entire home emergency kit.
Pack a smaller bag containing:
- Identification.
- Insurance cards.
- Medication and medical information.
- Essential medications.
- Phone and charger.
- Emergency contacts.
- Keys.
- Glasses or hearing-aid supplies.
- Basic clothing.
- Hygiene supplies.
- Copies of legal or healthcare documents.
- Necessary medical-device accessories.
- Small comfort or communication items.
Keep the bag near an exit without blocking the walkway.
Helpful Resources: Browse Evacuation & Grab-and-Go Supplies for products, equipment, services, or supplies related to this section.
Create an Evacuation Plan
Know where you would go and how you would get there.
Identify:
- Two ways out of each room when possible.
- More than one route out of the neighborhood.
- A nearby meeting place.
- A temporary location outside the immediate area.
- Shelters that can accommodate mobility, medical, communication, and pet needs.
- Transportation that can carry your mobility equipment.
- Who will help if your usual support person is unavailable.
If you live in an apartment or senior building, ask management:
- How residents are notified.
- Whether elevators stop during an emergency.
- Where accessible exits are located.
- How people who need assistance are evacuated.
- Where residents should gather.
- Whether staff remain on-site.
If you use a wheelchair or walker, confirm that exits and transportation can accommodate it.
Make a Fire-Escape Plan
Fire requires an immediate response.
Make sure:
- Smoke alarms are installed and working.
- Carbon monoxide alarms are present where needed.
- Exits are clear.
- Mobility devices are kept nearby.
- House numbers are visible to responders.
- You know how to leave from the bedroom.
- Someone knows if you may need help escaping.
If you are deaf or hard of hearing, consider alarms with flashing lights, vibration, or other accessible alerts.
The U.S. Fire Administration recommends discussing your escape plan with family, neighbors, building staff, or the fire department if you may need assistance. Review its fire-safety guidance for older adults.
Do not return inside for belongings after leaving a burning building.
Plan for Extreme Temperatures
Power outages can quickly make a home unsafe during severe heat or cold.
Know:
- Where local cooling or warming centers are located.
- Who could provide transportation.
- Where you could stay temporarily.
- How temperature-sensitive medication will be protected.
- Which symptoms require medical help.
Do not use a gas stove, charcoal grill, or outdoor heater to warm the home.
Use flashlights instead of candles when possible to reduce fire risk.
Include Pets and Service Animals
Your plan should include:
- Food and water.
- Medication.
- Leash, harness, or carrier.
- Identification.
- Vaccination records.
- Veterinarian contact information.
- Waste supplies.
- A recent photograph.
- Pet-friendly shelter or lodging options.
Service animals are not pets, but they still need food, water, medication, and emergency supplies.
Identify someone who could care for the animal if you were hospitalized.
Decide How Others Can Enter
During an emergency, you may not be able to reach the door.
Consider a secure entry plan involving:
- A trusted neighbor or relative with a key.
- A lockbox with controlled access.
- Building-management procedures.
- Information provided to an emergency-alert service.
Do not hide a key in an obvious outdoor location.
Make sure anyone given access understands when it may be used.
Sign Up for Alerts
Enroll in local emergency alerts if available.
You may receive warnings through:
- Text messages.
- Telephone calls.
- Email.
- Weather radio.
- Television or radio.
- Community sirens.
- Building announcements.
If hearing, vision, language, or technology makes alerts difficult to receive, arrange for someone in your support network to contact you.
Practice and Update the Plan
A plan should be tested before an emergency.
Practice:
- Calling emergency contacts.
- Reaching your emergency kit.
- Leaving through planned exits.
- Using backup medical equipment.
- Loading a mobility device into transportation.
- Taking pets safely.
- Reaching your meeting location.
Review the plan at least once a year and after:
- Moving.
- A new diagnosis.
- A medication change.
- A mobility change.
- New medical equipment.
- A caregiver change.
- A change in emergency contacts.
- A problem discovered during an actual emergency.
Replace expired food, water, batteries, medications, and supplies.
Keep the Plan Simple Enough to Use
Your emergency plan should clearly answer:
- Who will check on me?
- Who is the backup?
- How will I receive warnings?
- What will I take?
- How will I leave?
- Where will I go?
- What will happen to my pets?
- How will my medical needs be handled?
- Who needs a copy of the plan?
Write the answers down and give copies to the people involved.
You cannot prevent every emergency. You can make it easier to respond without having to solve every problem in the moment.
