The Family Meeting and the Planning Binder

What it's for

Gear doesn't help much if nobody knows the plan. Ready.gov puts it simply: your family may not be together when something happens, so decide ahead how you'll get alerts, where you'll shelter, how you'll leave, and how you'll find each other. The Ramrod calls the meeting, writes it down, and keeps the binder. One evening at the kitchen table covers most of it.

Before you need it (practice)

• Print the free plan forms. Ready.gov has a fillable Family Emergency Plan and a Family Communication Plan card (adult and kid versions). They're on our list as household emergency plan templates, at no cost.
• Set a date and tell everyone it's short. Bring the forms, a pencil, and the paper map.
• Invite the kids. Ready.gov says involving children in making the family plan helps build their confidence before anything happens.

Step by step

1. Ask Ready.gov's five questions

Ready.gov's "Make a Plan" starts with these:

1. How will we get emergency alerts and warnings?
2. What is our shelter plan?
3. What is our evacuation route?
4. What is our family communication plan?
5. Do we need to update our emergency kit?

2. Talk through your household's needs

Ready.gov's list to consider: ages in the house, who helps whom, places you go often (work, school, daycare), dietary and medical needs (including prescriptions and equipment), disabilities and access needs, languages, cultural and religious needs, pets or service animals, and school-age kids.

3. Pick your contacts and meeting places

• One out-of-town contact for everybody. Ready.gov says someone out of town may be easier to reach in a disaster.
• Text, don't talk. Ready.gov notes phone lines may be tied up; a text may get through and keeps lines open for emergency workers.
• Meeting places: pick safe, familiar, easy-to-reach spots, animal-friendly if you have pets (Ready.gov). Ready.gov's planning guide uses three: in your neighborhood (a big tree, the mailbox at the end of the drive, a neighbor's house), outside your neighborhood (if you can't get home), and outside your town (if you can't reach either).
• Why texts get through: Ready.gov's guide says a text needs far less bandwidth than a call and may send automatically once there's room on the network.

4. Write it down and hand it out

• Fill in the forms. Ready.gov says make sure everyone has a copy in a backpack, wallet, or taped in a notebook, and in their phone if they have one.
• Copy the short version onto an index card for each person and each go-bag.
• Put the full plan in the planning binder (see "What goes in the binder" below).

5. Practice it

Ready.gov's last step is to practice the plan with your household, and to hold regular household meetings to review it. Walk to the meeting spot once. Send a test text to the out-of-town contact.

What goes in the binder

• The filled-in Family Emergency Plan and communication card.
• Your radio channel plan (see A Family Walkie-Talkie Channel Plan).
• Where the utility shutoffs are (see Shutting Off Gas, Water, and Power).
• Copies of key documents (see The Go-Binder: Documents, Cash, and Backups).
• A marked-up copy of your evacuation routes.

Common mistakes

• A plan only one person knows. Hand out copies.
• Contacts stored only in a phone. Write them down.
• Never updating it. Ready.gov says your family's needs change over time, so update the plan regularly.
• Skipping the practice. Ready.gov lists it as a step for a reason.

Care & storage

• Keep the binder somewhere everyone knows, near the kit by the door.
• Review it at each kit rotation, and whenever someone changes schools, jobs, or phone numbers.
• Use pencil or sheet protectors so changes are easy.

Related gear

• Household emergency plan templates · 1-inch binder with sheet protectors · Index cards + marker
• Waterproof notebook + pencils · Paper map · Safety whistle · Digital watch
• See also: Packing a Kids' Go-Bag · Wildfire Evacuation Quick Steps
• Category: Documents & Cash · Role: Ramrod

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