Family emergency plan: a practical guide for households

Would everyone in your household know what to do if you could not get home, contact each other or follow your usual routine? A family emergency plan helps you talk through those possibilities and write down practical arrangements. Start with the people who depend on your household, including children, relatives, anyone with care or access needs, and pets. The aim is to make the next steps clearer, without turning preparation into something frightening.

This guide helps you agree contacts, meeting places, household roles and ways to find essential information. It also covers supplies, accessible copies and calm practice. Build your arrangements around local risk guidance, and follow official instructions during an emergency. Keep preparation manageable: discuss what matters to your household, check arrangements with the people involved, and review the plan when everyday life changes.

Key takeaways

• Discuss daily routines, caring responsibilities, medical needs, accessibility and pets, so your arrangements reflect the people who depend on your household rather than assumptions.
• Agree contact details, accessible meeting places and authorised child collection arrangements, including what to do when phones, usual routes or trusted helpers are unavailable.
• Follow official local guidance when preparing to leave home or stay indoors, and check transport, possible destinations and pet arrangements with everyone involved.
• Prepare suitable supplies and essential information, ask professionals about medicines and care equipment, and limit access to sensitive documents according to each person’s needs.
• Practise calmly, keep accessible paper and offline copies current, and use Conquish tasks and reminders for routine preparation rather than relying on emergency alerting.

In this guide

• Start with your household and local risks
• Agree how to make contact and where to meet
• Plan for leaving home or staying indoors
• Prepare supplies and essential information
• Keep the plan accessible, practise and review it

Start with your household and local risks

Talk through daily routines, caring responsibilities, disabilities, medical needs and pets

Start your family emergency plan with a conversation about everyday life. Think about who lives at home, who visits regularly and who depends on your household for care. Include everyone in a way that suits them. Ask what support they would want, rather than making assumptions.

Walk through a typical day together. Where does everyone go? Who handles school collections, care visits or pet feeding? Discuss what you would like to happen if someone cannot get home, a usual route is unavailable or your main contact cannot answer.

Use these prompts to guide the conversation:

• Daily routines: Agree where you would try to meet and who you would contact if plans changed. Check collection arrangements with schools, childcare settings and care providers.
• Caring responsibilities: Discuss who could step in if the usual carer were unavailable. Ask that person before adding them to your arrangements.
• Disabilities and access needs: Ask about communication preferences, mobility support, sensory needs and accessible transport. Consider what leaving home or staying elsewhere would involve.
• Medical needs: Make a note of relevant medicines, equipment and care contacts. Ask a healthcare professional about any emergency arrangements specific to your household.
• Pets: Decide who would collect them and what you would take. Check any proposed temporary accommodation directly before relying on it.

Keep the conversation practical, not frightening. Invite questions and leave room for someone to raise a concern privately. For personal or medical details, agree what to record, where to keep it and who may access it.

Write down the arrangements in plain language. Choose a place everyone involved knows about, and consider a printed copy alongside any digital version. Return to the discussion when routines, care needs or household members change.

Find local risk guidance and official alerts, including ways to get updates without internet access

Look for emergency guidance from your local authority and relevant emergency services. Focus on the places your household spends time: home, work, school, care settings and regular travel routes.

Use official guidance to shape your questions. What should you prepare for locally? Where should you look for instructions during an incident? What arrangements should you check before deciding to leave home or stay put? Avoid building your approach around forwarded messages or unverified posts.

Make a short reference sheet with the official sources you intend to check. Note the organisation’s name, its contact details and where to find its guidance. Check any alert service’s coverage and sign-up instructions directly. Choose formats that suit the people in your household.

Plan for getting updates without internet access, too. Ask your local authority which offline channels to use in your area. Check whether local radio forms part of its guidance and, if so, write down the station details. Consider how you would receive those broadcasts without relying on your phone.

Finally, agree who will check for updates and how they will pass on instructions. Keep the wording clear. Revisit your reference sheet when you review the rest of your household arrangements.

Further reading: Fire Protection Association of Southern Africa.

Agree how to make contact and where to meet

Write down contacts and agree what to do if phones or mobile networks are unavailable

Start this part of your family emergency plan with a conversation about how your household will get in touch. Include everyone who may need to act, from children and carers to relatives who live elsewhere. Ask what each person would feel comfortable doing, rather than assuming everyone can follow the same steps.

Write down the contacts you would want close to hand. Consider household members, a trusted contact outside your immediate area, schools, childcare settings and anyone who helps care for a relative. Include names, phone numbers and any details needed to recognise the right person.

Keep a paper copy somewhere agreed, and consider copies for bags or wallets. Choose where to store these details with privacy in mind. Avoid leaving sensitive information on display.

Agree what to try when a call does not connect. You might decide to send a short message, contact an agreed person or follow your meeting-place arrangements. Keep the message simple: where you are, whether you need help and what you intend to do next. Avoid making repeated attempts to get in touch the only action in your plan.

Talk through what to do if phones are lost, out of charge or unavailable, or if mobile networks cannot be used. Make the next step clear without relying on an app, a shared account or someone remembering a password.

Ask everyone to explain the arrangements in their own words. Adjust anything that feels unclear or difficult to follow. Revisit the contact list when care arrangements, schools or phone details change.

Choose accessible meeting places and agree authorised child collection and support for relatives

Choose meeting places together. Discuss somewhere near home and an alternative outside the immediate area. Give each place a clear name and an exact spot to wait, rather than a broad description such as “near the shops”.

Consider the whole journey, not just the destination. Talk about walking distance, steps, mobility aids, transport and whether anyone would need another person’s support. Think about what you would do in poor weather or if your usual route or chosen place were unavailable. Do not make reaching a meeting place more important than following instructions from emergency services.

For children, agree who you would authorise to collect them. Check the school or childcare setting’s collection arrangements and follow its process for recording authorised adults. Discuss a fallback if the usual collector cannot attend. Explain the arrangements to children in language they understand, without asking them to manage adult responsibilities.

Ask relatives what support they would want. Discuss who could check in, help them leave home or bring agreed essentials. Respect their preferences and agree what information they are comfortable sharing.

Write down who has agreed to each role, along with a fallback. Walk through the arrangements together and change anything that depends on guesswork. Keep the finished plan somewhere everyone involved knows how to find.

Further reading: Department of Home Affairs.

Plan for leaving home or staying indoors

Follow local emergency instructions on when to leave or stay indoors, rather than treating this plan as official guidance

Build your family emergency plan around following local emergency instructions. Use it to organise your household, not to decide whether official advice applies. Leave space to record where you will check current guidance and how you will share it with everyone at home.

Talk through leaving home and staying indoors as separate possibilities. Avoid setting a fixed rule that you will always leave, or always stay. Instead, agree who will check instructions and tell the household what action is being advised.

For leaving home, prepare a short checklist of essentials to take if instructed and if circumstances allow. Consider medicines, mobility aids, communication devices, keys and essential documents. Keep the list focused on your household’s needs. Do not make collecting belongings a condition of leaving.

For staying indoors, discuss which parts of your household routine would need attention. Think about access to medicines, personal care, food, drinking water and ways to communicate. Let official instructions guide where you stay and any actions you take within the home.

Include a way to contact household members who are elsewhere. Agree what you would tell them about your location and the instructions you are following. Avoid asking anyone to return home without checking whether that fits current guidance.

Keep this part of the plan easy to find and read. Ask everyone to review it, using a format that suits their communication needs.

Agree household roles, accessible transport, alternative destinations and arrangements for pets

Give each household member a clear role that suits their abilities and circumstances. Ask who could check instructions, contact relatives, gather essential items or support someone who needs help. Agree a backup for each task rather than assuming the usual person will be home.

Discuss support needs directly with the person concerned. Ask what help they want with movement, communication, personal care or unfamiliar surroundings. Record their preferences without making decisions on their behalf.

Plan transport around those needs. Consider who could drive, what accessible transport you would need and whom you could ask for help. Do not rely on an arrangement you have not discussed with the people involved. Note an alternative to explore if your preferred option is unavailable, while following local instructions about travel.

Agree possible destinations rather than committing to a single address regardless of circumstances. Speak with friends or relatives about whether staying with them could be an option. Discuss accessibility, care needs and pets before adding their home to your plan. Follow official guidance about where to go during an emergency.

Include pets in the household discussion. Agree who would gather their leads, carriers, food, medicines and relevant records, where practical. Check proposed arrangements with anyone you hope will accommodate or care for them.

Finish with a shared review. Ask what feels unclear, what depends on someone else and what still needs agreeing. Update the plan when your household’s needs or arrangements change.

Further reading: National Public Holidays (gov.za).

Prepare supplies and essential information

Use local guidance to choose supplies, and ask your pharmacist or care team about medicine and equipment preparation

Make supplies part of your family emergency plan, but start with local guidance rather than a generic shopping list. Check advice from your local authority and emergency services. Use it to decide what to gather, where to keep it and what you might need if you are asked to leave home.

Think about everyone in your household. Include children, anyone with care needs and pets where relevant. Consider food preferences, accessibility and how you would carry supplies. Avoid buying things simply because they appear on someone else’s list.

Turn your choices into a manageable household task:

• Check what you already have before adding anything to your shopping list.
• Choose a storage spot that the people who need it can reach.
• Ask someone to check supplies and arrange replacements when needed.
• Agree where to put anything that needs to stay separate.

For medicine and care equipment, ask your pharmacist or care team what preparation is appropriate. Discuss storage, prescription arrangements and what to do if your usual routine is interrupted. If equipment needs power, specialist supplies or help to operate, ask for guidance specific to that equipment.

Do not change doses, storage arrangements or equipment settings as part of your preparations without appropriate professional advice. Write down the instructions you are given, and ask for clarification if anything is unclear.

Keep the work manageable. Start with a cupboard check and a conversation, then build your shopping and preparation tasks around the guidance you receive.

Keep essential documents accessible while limiting who can see sensitive information, medical details and access codes

Decide which information your household might need during an emergency. Consider contact details, relevant care instructions, identification, insurance documents and details of where important items are kept. Choose what belongs in your plan rather than gathering every document you own.

Separate everyday information from sensitive material. Give household members access to what they need for their role, rather than sharing the whole collection by default. Ask adults how they want their personal and medical information handled.

For each item, agree:

• Where the current version will be kept.
• Who should be able to view it.
• Who will keep it up to date.
• How an authorised person could reach it if the usual arrangement is unavailable.

Treat access codes separately from general household notes. Avoid putting them in a broadly shared checklist or beside details that identify what they unlock. Review sharing permissions wherever you store sensitive documents.

If you choose to keep paper copies, decide where they should live and who may retrieve them. If you use digital copies, check that the intended people can open them without borrowing someone else’s account.

Finally, walk through the arrangements together. Ask each person to find the information they would be expected to use, without opening private material they do not need. Adjust anything confusing, and revisit the plan when household circumstances change.

Keep the plan accessible, practise and review it

Keep readable paper copies and an offline digital copy, with formats that meet household accessibility needs

A family emergency plan needs to be easy to find and understand when someone is worried, tired or in a hurry. Keep readable paper copies somewhere familiar and accessible, rather than buried in a drawer. Tell everyone in the household where they are. Consider a copy near your usual exit and another with your emergency supplies, where safe and practical.

Make the essential information easy to scan. Use clear headings, short instructions and enough space between sections. Include emergency contacts, meeting places and any agreed arrangements for children, pets or household members who need support. Keep sensitive details limited to what is necessary, and store copies with privacy in mind.

Match the format to the people who will use it. Large print, strong contrast, plain language, translated text or simple pictures may help. Someone who uses a screen reader may need an accessible text document rather than a scanned image. An audio version may also be useful. Ask each person what works for them, rather than assuming the same format suits everyone.

Save a digital copy directly to a phone or other device so it can be opened without an internet connection. Check that the file is genuinely available offline, not just shown as a shortcut to online storage. Make sure the person who needs it can unlock the device and find the document without help.

Paper and digital copies should match. When you change the plan, replace old copies and remove outdated files where practical. An outdated contact or meeting place can cause confusion at the moment you need clarity.

Practise calmly and review after household changes; optionally use Conquish tasks and reminders for preparation, not emergency alerting

Choose a calm moment to talk through the plan. Explain that practice is about knowing what to do, not expecting something frightening to happen. Keep the conversation appropriate to each person’s age and needs, and allow time for questions.

Start with a walk-through. Check where the plan is kept, how to find contact details and where the household would meet. Talk through what happens if someone is away from home or cannot use the usual exit. Do not create hazards, block routes or use surprise drills to test people.

Give everyone a manageable role, without making children responsible for someone else’s safety. Check that any support arrangements are realistic. If a household member needs help moving, communicating or understanding instructions, agree how that help would work and what to do if the usual helper is absent.

After practising, ask what felt unclear or difficult. Adjust the plan around those answers. Review it again after changes such as moving home, a new school or workplace, changed contact details, different caring responsibilities or new accessibility needs.

Conquish tasks and reminders can help you organise this preparation. You could keep a task to replace printed copies or a reminder to check contact details. The Free plan includes tasks, shopping, reminders, calendar and contacts for one user.

Use these tools for preparation and routine follow-through, not emergency alerting. During an emergency, follow instructions from the relevant emergency services and official local sources.

Conclusion

A family emergency plan gives your household a clearer starting point when everyday routines are disrupted. Its value lies in agreed arrangements: who to contact, where to meet, what support people want and how to find essential information. It does not replace instructions from emergency services or official local sources.

Begin with a calm conversation about what would be difficult for your household. Check collection arrangements, ask relatives about their preferences and discuss possible help with the people you hope to rely on. Use local guidance to shape your supplies, and ask your pharmacist or care team about preparation for medicines and equipment.

Keep the finished plan readable, accessible and available without an internet connection. Protect sensitive information, and check that everyone can find what they need for their agreed role. A walk-through can reveal unclear instructions before you need to use them.

Conquish tasks and reminders can help you keep preparation moving, from checking contact details to replacing outdated copies. Use them for routine follow-through, not emergency alerting. Return to the plan as your household changes, so it continues to reflect everyday life.

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Frequently asked questions

What does the Conquish Free plan include for organising household preparation?

The Free plan includes tasks, shopping, reminders, calendar and contacts for one user. For household preparation, you could use tasks to track unfinished arrangements, shopping to record supplies you need, and reminders to prompt a contact check. Calendar and contacts can support that routine organisation. Keep an accessible copy of your emergency plan separately, and follow official local sources for instructions during an emergency.

How many people does the Conquish Free plan cover?

The Conquish Free plan is for one user. It includes tasks, shopping, reminders, calendar and contacts, which can help that person organise household preparation. That does not replace discussing arrangements with everyone involved. Agree roles together, and keep the emergency plan available in formats each person can use. Nobody should need access to someone else’s account to find the instructions they are expected to follow.

Does Conquish offer a free trial of Premium?

Yes. Conquish offers a 30 day free trial of Premium with no card required. You can use the trial to explore whether Premium fits your household’s routine organisation. Premium includes two-way sync with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar, and can back up household documents to Google Drive. For emergency preparation, keep accessible paper and offline copies of your plan rather than relying only on online tools.

Is a card required for the Conquish Premium trial?

No card is required for the Conquish Premium trial. Conquish offers a 30 day free trial of Premium, so you can explore it without providing card details. When considering it for household preparation, focus on the routine work you want help organising. Keep emergency contacts and agreed instructions accessible outside the service too, and use official local sources for guidance during an incident, not Conquish reminders.

What does Conquish Premium cost per month?

Conquish Premium costs R79 per month. Payments are processed by PayFast. Premium includes two-way sync with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar, and can back up household documents to Google Drive. Consider whether those features fit how your household handles routine organisation. For emergency planning, they can support preparation, but your arrangements should still include readable paper copies and an offline digital copy of essential instructions.

What does Conquish Premium cost per year?

Conquish Premium costs R749 per year. Payments are processed by PayFast. If you are considering Premium for household organisation, its features include two-way calendar sync with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar, plus household document backup to Google Drive. Choose a plan around your everyday needs. Emergency preparation should also include agreed roles, accessible copies and official local guidance, rather than depending on a subscription or an internet connection.

Can Conquish sync a household calendar with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar?

Yes. Conquish syncs two-way with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar on the Premium plan. For household preparation, you could use your calendar to set aside time to discuss arrangements or review the plan after a change in routine. Calendar organisation is preparation, not emergency alerting. Keep immediate instructions and contact details accessible without an internet connection, and follow relevant emergency services and official local sources during an incident.

Can Conquish back up household documents to Google Drive?

Yes. Conquish can back up household documents to Google Drive on the Premium plan. That can form part of how you organise important household information, but a backup should not be your only emergency copy. Keep readable paper copies and check that any offline digital files actually open without internet access. Review sharing permissions, limit sensitive details, and agree who needs access to each document.