Emergency binder: what to put in a family emergency binder

The short answer: an emergency binder keeps your family's most important information in one place, ready to grab if you need to leave home fast or hand details to a first responder.

• Page 1: emergency contacts
• Page 2: medical information and insurance
• Page 3: the family emergency plan, with meeting places and utility shut-offs
• Page 4: an important documents checklist (add copies, not originals)
• Next step: Get the free emergency binder starter pages (we email it to you); want more? The If Something Happens to Me Binder is $11.99.

An emergency binder keeps your family's most important information in one place, ready to grab if you need to leave home fast or hand details to a first responder. This guide covers what to put in a family emergency binder, how to set it up in an afternoon and where to keep it. Get the free download for four starter pages: emergency contacts, medical information, a family emergency plan and an important documents checklist.

For the money side, our If Something Happens to Me Binder adds pages for bank accounts, insurance policies, bills, digital accounts and where to find documents.

What to put in an emergency binder

Step 1: emergency contacts

Start with the people. Page 1 has rows for up to five household members (name, date of birth, cell and work or school phone) and 14 key contacts: an out-of-area contact, a local contact, a neighbor, your doctor, pediatrician, dentist, pharmacy, veterinarian, insurance agent, landlord or HOA, employer, school or daycare, and your power, gas and water companies.

Our free printable address book includes an emergency contacts page you can copy into this tab.

The Red Cross recommends you choose an out-of-area emergency contact, because it may be easier to call or text long distance when local lines are overloaded. It also suggests everyone carry emergency contact information in writing, so print a small copy for each wallet and backpack.

Step 2: medical information and insurance

Page 2 has a row for each person with blood type, allergies, conditions and medicines with doses, plus an insurance table for health, dental, vision, home or renters, auto and life policies with the company, policy or member number and phone. In an emergency, this saves you trying to remember a medicine name or policy number under stress. For more detail, see our guide on how to organize medical records.

If you have a living will, keep a copy with this section so family and doctors can find your wishes fast.

Step 3: the family emergency plan

Ready.gov's make a plan guide asks families to talk through a few questions: how you'll receive emergency alerts, your shelter plan, your evacuation route and your household communication plan. Page 3 of our starter pages gives you space for:

• Meeting places: near home (for a fire), outside the neighborhood and out of town
• Evacuation: two routes, where you will stay, who takes the pets and where, and who picks up the kids
• Utility shut-offs: where the water, gas and power shut-offs are
• Local alerts and radio: the alert apps and radio stations you'll use

The Red Cross suggests practicing your evacuation plan twice a year, and our plan page says the same. Walk the route, check the meeting places and make sure kids know the out-of-area contact's number. Our fire escape plan guide shows how to map two ways out of every room and run a home fire drill.

Step 4: important documents

Page 4 is an important documents checklist with 14 items: birth certificates, copies of passports and IDs, copies of Social Security cards, marriage or divorce papers, insurance policies, wills and powers of attorney, deed, lease or mortgage papers, car titles and registration, medical records and vaccination cards, bank and credit card contacts, a recent tax return, pet records, photos of your home and belongings, and some cash in small bills. For each one you note where the original is kept and tick whether a copy is in the binder and a digital copy exists.

Name your executor of estate here and say where the will is. Our guide explains what the executor will do and need.

File any medical power of attorney here as well. Our guide explains what it allows and how it pairs with a living will.

Ready.gov's financial preparedness page suggests keeping a small amount of cash at home in small bills, because ATMs and credit cards may not work during a disaster. Our guide to organizing important documents explains how to sort the originals.

How to put the binder together

1. Pick a sturdy binder with a zip closure or put it in a waterproof bag.
2. Add tabbed dividers for contacts, medical, insurance, plan and documents.
3. Print and fill in the starter pages. Use pen, not pencil.
4. Add copies, not originals, of important documents in sheet protectors.
5. Make a digital copy. Scan the pages to an encrypted USB drive or secure cloud storage.
6. Store it with your kit. Ready.gov's build a kit list includes copies of important family documents in a waterproof, portable container alongside water, food and a radio.
7. Set a reminder to review it every six months.

Keep it safe and private

An emergency binder holds exactly the information you'd want kept private: dates of birth, policy numbers and document copies. Store it somewhere secure but easy to reach, like a closet near the exit or a fire-resistant box, not on an open shelf. Don't write account passwords in it. Tell every adult in the house where it is.

If you store the Wi-Fi password here, update it when you change it. Our guide on how to change wifi password covers the steps for most routers. For the rest of your logins, our password tracker template guide shows what to record for each account without writing full passwords.

Emergency binder vs household binder vs if something happens to me binder

For end-of-life planning, our free obituary template includes a fact worksheet you can fill in ahead and keep with your papers.

• Emergency binder: grab-and-go information for a disaster. Start with the free pages above.
• Household binder: the everyday system. Our Household Binder is a 12-page printable with family information, an emergency plan, a monthly calendar, a weekly planner, a meal planner, a grocery list, a weekly cleaning page, a bill tracker, birthdays and babysitter and sitter info. See also our home management binder guide.
• If something happens to me binder: for the people who would step in for you. The If Something Happens to Me Binder is a 14-page printable with key contacts, bank and financial accounts, insurance policies, bills and subscriptions, property and vehicles, digital accounts, where to find documents and your wishes. Read more in our if something happens to me binder guide.

The Family Peace of Mind Bundle combines the If Something Happens to Me Binder with a Caregiver Organizer, Pet Health Records and a Password and Accounts Log. For the money side of being prepared, an emergency fund tracker helps you build savings, and a car emergency kit covers the road.