Free Family Emergency Contact Sheet (Fillable PDF, Word, Excel)

What is on the family emergency contact sheet

Your address and nearest cross street

The first thing a 911 dispatcher asks. Children, sitters and visitors often do not know it; on the fridge, they can read it.

Emergency numbers

911 (or 112 / 999 outside the US), Poison Control (1-800-222-1222 in the US, free, 24 hours), non-emergency police, the nearest ER.

Household members

Everyone who lives there, their mobile, where they are during the day and the number there, and any allergy or condition a responder should know.

Out-of-area contact

A relative or friend in another city. In a local disaster, local lines jam but long-distance calls often get through; everyone checks in with this one person.

Doctors, pharmacy, vet

The people who hold the family's medical records. The vet matters more than people think when a pet is hurt at 9 p.m.

Utilities and shut-offs

Who to call for a gas smell or a burst pipe, and where the valves are. Mark the shut-off locations; a sitter cannot find them by guessing.

Insurance and meeting place

Policy numbers for the calls you make after the emergency, and where the family meets if the house has to be left in a hurry.

Why a paper sheet when everything is in your phone

Because the person who needs the number is often not you. The babysitter, the grandparent, the older child home alone, the neighbor who comes in when the alarm goes off: none of them can open your phone. And in the two situations where you need the numbers most, a power cut and a medical emergency, your phone is the thing you're least able to use calmly. FEMA, the Red Cross and ready.gov all recommend a written family emergency plan with a contact sheet, posted where everyone can see it, with copies in each adult's wallet and each child's school bag.

The out-of-area contact is the piece most families miss. During a regional emergency, local mobile networks overload while calls and texts out of the area often still connect. If everyone in the family knows to call Aunt Rosa in Phoenix, Aunt Rosa becomes the switchboard that tells everyone where everyone else is.

Which sheet to use

• Fridge sheet: the master list. Fill it once, update it twice a year (when the clocks change is the usual reminder), post it on the fridge or inside a kitchen cabinet door.
• Babysitter sheet: the top half changes every outing (where you're, when you're back); the rest stays the same. Print a few and fill the top by hand.
• Wallet card: one per person, two per page. For school bags, wallets, the car, the diaper bag.

How to fill it in

1. Start with the numbers you would have to look up under stress: poison control, the ER, the gas company, the insurer.
2. Add every household member with where they're on a weekday and that number.
3. Pick an out-of-area contact and tell them they're it.
4. Walk the house and write down the shut-off locations and the first-aid kit and flashlight locations.
5. Agree a meeting place outside the home (a neighbor's front steps) and one outside the neighbourhood (the school, the library).
6. Print, post, and put a copy in the emergency kit. Date it.

Mistakes that make the sheet useless

• Keeping it in a drawer. It has to be visible.
• Phone numbers only, no addresses. "Nearest hospital" needs a street address for the sitter who has to drive there.
• No allergies or medications listed for the kids which is what the sitter or the paramedic asks first.
• A meeting place inside the house.
• A sheet from 2021. Date it and redo it with the clock change.

The rest of the home emergency plan

The contact sheet is one page of a short plan. The home emergency checklist covers the kit, the documents and the evacuation routes; the medication schedule lists what each person takes and when, which responders and sitters both need; the allergy card goes with the child who has the allergy. For travel, the travel version adds embassy, insurer and itinerary.

Editing the Word and Excel versions

The Word versions are easiest for a sheet you'll update twice a year: open, change the numbers, print. Use the Excel version if you want one workbook with a tab per family member. The wallet card prints two per Letter or A4 page; use card stock, cut, and fold in half so the name is on the outside.

Questions

What number is poison control?

In the US, 1-800-222-1222 reaches Poison Control from anywhere, free, 24 hours a day. Write it on the sheet; it's the number people need most often and know least.

Who should be the out-of-area contact?

A relative or close friend who lives far enough away not to be affected by the same storm, flood or outage, who answers the phone, and who has agreed to do it. Tell every family member the name and number.

Should I put the sheet somewhere other than the fridge?

The fridge or a kitchen cabinet door is where sitters and children look. Put a second copy in the emergency kit and a photo of it on every adult's phone.

How often should I update it?

Twice a year. Many families tie it to the clock change or the smoke alarm battery check.

Can I fill it on the computer?

Yes. Every box on the PDF is fillable; type, save, print. The Word and Excel versions are fully editable.