72-Hour Emergency Preparedness: What to Plan First

A first 72-hour preparedness plan gives your household a practical starting point for a disruption. It brings together essential supplies, contact information, and decisions that are difficult to make while searching in the dark or preparing to leave home.

Three days is a planning layer, not a promise that an emergency will end or assistance will arrive within that period. The Complete Survival DIY Handbook uses this layer as the foundation for longer preparation. Build something usable first, then extend it for your local risks and household needs.

Write down the people and decisions

Before shopping, identify who the plan covers. Include children, visiting relatives, pets, and anyone who needs help with communication, movement, or daily care. Note when household members are usually apart and how you would reconnect.

Choose a nearby meeting place for leaving the building and another option if the neighborhood is inaccessible. Record an outside contact who agrees to help relay information. Put the essential details on paper as well as on phones.

Clarify who can collect a child, assist a relative, or transport an animal. Check the relevant school, workplace, or care arrangements instead of assuming someone will be allowed to act on your behalf. Give each important task a backup person where practical.

Build around ordinary daily needs

Start with safe drinking water and familiar shelf-stable food. Estimate what the household actually uses, including needs related to age, health, climate, and animals. Follow local emergency guidance when setting water quantities and storage arrangements.

Choose food that fits existing dietary needs and can be opened and eaten with the equipment available. Include a manual opener if required. A small set of complete, familiar meals is easier to use than a collection of unrelated ingredients.

Include basic hygiene supplies, needed personal items, a suitable first aid kit, and relevant instructions. Arrange medication planning with a pharmacist or clinician. Do not change prescribed treatment or storage requirements simply to make a kit easier to pack.

Prepare for a loss of power or communication

Place a dependable light source where it can be reached easily. Check batteries and keep the necessary replacements with the device. Make sure household members can operate the light, rather than leaving it unopened in packaging.

Charge a power bank and confirm that the correct cables are present. Keep important numbers available offline. Identify official local alert channels and a way to receive updates if your usual internet connection fails.

Think through meals and comfort during an outage. Do not move outdoor fuel-burning equipment indoors. If your plan depends on any appliance or backup power system, follow its instructions and get appropriate professional guidance before relying on it.

Separate staying supplies from leaving supplies

Some supplies can remain at home; others need to travel. Keep essential documents, keys, contact information, and necessary personal items easy to locate. Protect copies of sensitive documents while ensuring the right people know how to access them.

Pack a manageable go-bag rather than expecting everyone to carry the entire home supply. Consider the actual route and transport method. A bag that one person can lift may be too heavy for another, and stairs can change what is practical.

Include animal carriers, leads, and relevant supplies in the leaving plan. If someone needs mobility equipment or a caregiver, rehearse the practical arrangements without interrupting essential care. Identify difficulties while there is time to solve them.

Test access during an ordinary evening

Try a short household exercise. Ask everyone to find the contact card, light source, footwear, and bag they would need. Use normal lighting at first, then discuss how access would change during a power failure.

Prepare one of the planned meals using only the intended tools, while maintaining safe food handling. Check that containers open, portions suit the household, and the cleanup plan makes sense. Record missing items before buying extra versions of things you already own.

First-layer checklist

• Record contacts, meeting arrangements, and individual support needs.
• Assemble water, familiar food, hygiene items, and essential care supplies.
• Check lights, batteries, chargers, and the correct cables.
• Keep documents and portable essentials accessible.
• Practice finding and using the supplies.
• Date the plan and schedule a review.

The first goal is reliability: the right people can find the right supplies and understand the next step. Once that works, extend the plan toward two weeks without losing the simplicity that makes the first layer useful.

Source basis: Original ST-KC-210 draft; The Complete Survival DIY Handbook, Chapter 2, Assessing Risk and Planning for Scenarios. Adapt quantities and protective actions to current local emergency guidance.