Why Most Families Aren't Ready to Communicate in a Crisis
Disasters rarely happen when everyone is home together. A major earthquake might strike during the school day. A wildfire evacuation order might come while you're at work and your partner is running errands. Without a pre-established communication plan, panic fills the vacuum — and panic leads to poor decisions.
The goal of a family emergency communication plan is simple: everyone in your household knows what to do, where to go, and how to reach each other — without needing a working cell network.
Step 1: Designate an Out-of-Area Contact
During a local disaster, local phone lines get jammed almost immediately. Long-distance calls often go through more reliably than local ones. Choose one person outside your area — a relative or close friend in another city — who becomes your family's central communication hub.
Every family member knows to call or text this one person. That person relays messages between family members who can't reach each other directly. Write this person's name and number on a card that every family member carries.
Step 2: Identify Two Meeting Places
Pre-agree on two physical meeting spots:
- Meeting Place #1 — Near Home: A neighbor's house, a specific corner, or a community landmark just outside your neighborhood. Use this if you need to evacuate your home quickly but can stay local.
- Meeting Place #2 — Away from the Neighborhood: A location further away — a school, a community center, or a relative's home in a nearby town — in case your entire neighborhood is affected and you can't return.
Make sure every family member — including children — can describe how to get to both locations without GPS.
Step 3: Know Each School and Workplace's Emergency Plan
Find out:
- Where your child's school will shelter or evacuate to during different types of emergencies
- Whether you need to sign your child out, or if they'll be released to another designated adult
- Your employer's emergency procedures — including whether you'd shelter in place or evacuate
Don't assume — contact schools and workplaces directly and keep their emergency contact numbers in your plan.
Step 4: Build a Household Contact Card
Create a physical card (laminated if possible) for every family member. It should include:
| Information | Details to Include |
|---|---|
| Out-of-area contact | Name + phone number |
| Meeting Place #1 | Address + brief directions |
| Meeting Place #2 | Address + brief directions |
| Each family member's cell | All numbers |
| School emergency contact | School name + number |
| Medical info | Allergies, medications, blood type |
Children should keep this card in their backpack. Adults should keep one in their wallet and one in their go-bag.
Step 5: Establish How You'll Communicate Without Cell Service
Don't rely solely on smartphones. Build redundancy into your plan:
- SMS text messages often get through when voice calls won't — they use less network bandwidth
- Social media check-ins (Facebook's Safety Check feature, for example) can broadcast your status to many people at once
- Two-way radios (FRS/GMRS walkie-talkies) work within a few miles and require no infrastructure
- Ham radio for serious preppers — requires licensing but works when nothing else does
- Pre-agreed check-in times: "If we haven't heard from each other by 6 PM, we both go to Meeting Place #2"
Step 6: Practice the Plan
A plan you've never practiced is a plan that will fail under pressure. Run a simple tabletop drill with your family: describe a scenario and walk through what each person would do. Do this at least once a year. Update the plan whenever your family situation changes — new job, new school, new neighborhood.
Special Considerations
- Pets: Know in advance which shelters or hotels accept pets in your evacuation area
- Elderly or disabled family members: Designate a specific person responsible for assisting them
- Young children: Practice what they should say if a stranger needs to help them, and teach them their full address from memory
An emergency communication plan takes less than an afternoon to build and can make all the difference when minutes matter. Start yours today.