Family emergency preparedness

1. First, tell three things apart: home supplies, a grab-and-go bag and a family plan

Home supplies are the food, water and everyday items you use when your home is still safe and you need to stay there. A grab-and-go bag is a small bag you can take with you when you must leave right away. A family plan is the contact methods, meeting places and jobs that everyone has agreed on. All three matter. Buying a first aid kit does not mean you have finished all your preparation.

PreparedBC's basic supplies page suggests keeping food that stores well for at least three days to one week. Its power outage page suggests preparing for up to two weeks. This does not promise that a disaster will be over in three days. You can start with three days' worth, then add more step by step based on how many people are in your family, local hazards, storage space and your budget. If you live in a remote area, or someone depends on medical equipment that needs constant power, you also need your own backup plan.

You can start with a small exercise. Imagine the power goes out tonight, your phone battery is low and the stores are closed. Can you find a flashlight? Do you have food you can eat without cooking? What about a family member who lives alone upstairs? Starting from questions like these is more useful than ticking boxes on a shopping list.

2. Store water at home first, then food you can eat as is

Count the total amount of water, and also whether you can carry it

PreparedBC uses four litres of water per person per day as a common starting point. This covers drinking and basic hygiene. By this starting point, two people need 24 litres for three days, and four people need 48 litres for three days. Four people need 112 litres for one week. This is for supplies kept at home. It does not mean each person should carry a week of water on their back.

Four litres is not the most anyone may need, and it is not medical advice on how much one person should drink. Children, people who are breastfeeding and people who are sick may need more. Hot weather can greatly increase how much is needed. Count water for pets separately. Do not just take it out of the people's share. People who need to limit how much they drink or have special care needs should follow their own health care provider's advice. Do not change daily treatment just to "meet the emergency standard".

Choose bottled water that is easy to carry and easy to open. Keep it in its original packaging in a cool, dark place that is easy to reach. Do not open it before you need it, and rotate it by the date on the bottle. Do not use water from a toilet tank, heating system, swimming pool or hot tub as emergency drinking water. Even if you have water treatment equipment, you should still keep some safe bottled water.

For food, choose what your family "can eat, will eat and can eat without cooking"

Prepare food that keeps at room temperature, for example canned food and energy foods you usually eat. Check whether it needs heating, water or a fridge. For cans that need a can opener, keep a manual can opener. If every meal depends on a rice cooker and lots of water, it will be hard when the power and water are out. Also think about food allergies, the ability to swallow and chew, and diets needed for health conditions. Do not shop only by "are there enough calories".

Keep emergency food where it is protected from water. If your home could flood, store food up high and use waterproof containers. Eating food that is close to its date as part of daily meals and replacing it with new food is more reliable than buying food and leaving it for years. Do not keep food with leaking, swollen, punctured or clearly damaged packaging as emergency food.

Other supplies: find them by what they do in daily life

• Light and news: flashlights, spare batteries, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, phone charging cables and a power bank.
• Basic care: first aid supplies, personal medicines, glasses, hygiene products, garbage bags and wet wipes.
• Staying warm and getting around: clothing for the season, sturdy shoes and emergency blankets; other protective items based on your family's situation.
• Contact and paperwork: a paper family plan, copies of important documents, cash in small bills and a whistle.

Put them in a box or bag that is easy to find, and tell every family member who can help where it is. You should be able to reach it in the dark, and it should not be buried under clutter. The cash is for small costs when you may not be able to pay by card. This guide does not need to set one amount that is the same for everyone.

3. Keep your grab-and-go bag light enough that you can really carry it

A grab-and-go bag holds the things you can "take as you walk out the door right now". First pack ready-to-eat food, a reasonable amount of portable drinking water, the personal medicines you need, a flashlight, charging items, your paper contact plan, copies of important documents, simple hygiene items and clothing for the season. Then add more as needed. You can also keep a suitable small bag at work and in your car, but do not let the bag in the car replace the one at home that you can grab at any time.

Put a local map in the bag and mark your family meeting place on it. Copies of ID and insurance papers can help you show who you are and contact the right organizations, but they may not replace the originals that some tasks require. Protect sensitive information well. Do not put your full personal information on the outside of the bag. If some things you need every day cannot stay in the bag all year, you can make a separate short list of things to grab before you leave.

Once it is packed, have each person really put it on or pick it up to try. Who also needs to carry a child, push a wheelchair or bring a pet? If one hand is busy, what can the other hand still carry? This is a family exercise, not a fitness contest. If it is too heavy, take out things you do not really need and share the load again. Do not make children carry an adult's load. If danger comes and there is no time to grab the bag, protect people first.

4. Family contact plan: write it on paper, and give everyone a copy

Agree on who to contact and where to meet

Make a family contact list with your family members, neighbours you trust and other people who support you. Have at least one contact person who lives outside the affected area. PreparedBC suggests that, ideally, this person lives outside B.C., so that one big disaster does not cut everyone off at the same time. First get their agreement, then explain: if family members are in different places and each checks in, you would like this person to help pass the news along.

Write down a main meeting place and a backup place clearly. Do not just write "downstairs" or "the usual place". Include the actual address, the entrance and clear landmarks nearby. The place must be adjusted to the danger at the time. If it is closed or affected by the disaster, do not walk into a danger zone just to keep to the plan. Everyone's paper plan should include a backup.

In normal times, learn how your city, your region or your First Nation community sends out alerts. This may include phones, radio, websites, social media or other local methods. Save the official websites, and also write down local radio stations you can listen to. The ways information is shared are different in each area. Do not assume everyone will get a phone alert.

Give each family member a short emergency card

Below are fields you can fill in yourself. You do not need to squeeze a whole family file into your wallet. Keep the content to "helping others contact you and care for you". Confirm it with the person or their caregiver, and update it regularly.

• Name; actual home address and unit number; usual phone number.
• Name, relationship and phone number of a trusted emergency contact; out-of-area contact.
• Main and backup meeting places.
• Preferred language and the best way to communicate.
• Allergies, important health conditions, current medicines and how they are taken, that health care providers need to know.
• Equipment needed, where it is, and how others should help.
• Date the information was last updated.

Do not put your SIN, bank card details, door lock codes or full health insurance number on this small card that is easy to lose. Write only the medical information that really helps, and keep it safe. An emergency card helps others understand you. It is not proof of identity, and it cannot replace a doctor's judgment. These privacy choices are suggestions from this guide. PreparedBC's original health information card list is linked below.

If someone in your family is Deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired, also write into the plan how they will get help: Text with 9-1-1 (T9-1-1) requires registering with your phone provider first, a compatible phone and a text messaging plan, and it only works in areas where it is available. On November 3, 2026, the British Columbia coverage list on the T9-1-1 website did not list the Capital Regional District (Greater Victoria), but a 2019 map on E-Comm's page shows the whole of Vancouver Island as available, so the two do not agree; if you live in Victoria, ask your phone provider first, and have other ways to get help ready until you get a clear answer. See section 5 of Guide No. 40.

→ No. 40 · B.C. 911 upgrade and 604 callbacks

5. Write everyone's needs into the plan

Children: pick-up plans must be confirmed in advance

If parents cannot get back from work in time, who will pick up the children? Arrange a trusted backup person ahead of time, give permission in the way the school or daycare requires, and let your children know. PreparedBC suggests first choosing someone who is usually nearby during the day and can walk there if needed. Do not just say "please pick them up for me when the time comes" in the family group chat without telling the school.

Practise with your children, in simple words, their address, their parents' names and the meeting plan. Let them know that if things change, they should stay with the teacher or caregiver in charge, and not run home on their own to look for family. A small bag can hold a familiar small item to help them feel calm. These exercises should match the child's age and the school's plans. Do not give children dangerous tasks.

Babies: prepare based on how you feed your baby now

HealthLinkBC suggests keeping at least three to seven days of baby feeding supplies, and checking each month whether they still suit your baby's current needs. Families who use formula should, when possible, choose single-serving ready-to-feed formula first. This reduces the trouble of mixing formula and cleaning equipment when water is short. You still need to follow the rules for storing larger packages after opening, and for feeding equipment and hygiene. "Ready-to-feed" does not mean it can be kept at room temperature forever.

Families who depend on a breast pump need to think about how to keep feeding during a power outage. You can learn hand expression from a professional ahead of time, or learn about manual breast pumps. Prepare cleaning supplies, containers and safe water that match how you feed your baby now. Do not change the formula mix on your own or replace it with drinks that are not suitable. If your baby needs a special formula or has medical feeding needs, confirm an emergency plan with the health care provider in charge ahead of time.

Seniors, people with disabilities and people on long-term medicines: first ask "how will others help me?"

Build a trusted support network for anyone who needs help. PreparedBC suggests at least three people, so the person is not left alone when their only helper happens to be away. Together, confirm who will check in, how to stay in touch, how to help the person move safely, and how to use special equipment. People who need hearing, vision or communication support can keep spare glasses, hearing aid batteries, paper and pen, or communication cards they often use. How to give a key to a trusted person should be decided by the person themselves or a caregiver who has the right to decide, and the key should be managed carefully.

Preparing medicines is not just buying a few extra boxes from a standard list. Bring a list of your current medicines and ask your pharmacist or prescriber: can you keep a backup supply, how to store it in the original packaging, what to do with medicines that need to stay cold during a power outage, and when you must get a refill. Keep a paper copy of medicine names, doses, allergy information and your usual pharmacy's contact details. Do not stop a medicine or take more on your own, and do not use someone else's prescription medicine as a backup.

B.C. pharmacies can give an emergency short-term supply of medicine in some situations. Whether they can provide it, how much, prescription limits and costs are decided by the pharmacist based on the specific medicine and situation. Do not wait until you have completely run out to start arranging it. And do not take "emergency supply is possible" to mean any medicine can be picked up for free at any time.

For each medicine on your medication list, write down: the name (for prescription medicines, both the brand name and the generic name), the prescribing doctor, the pharmacy and its phone number, the start date, why you take it, the dose each time (write the strength, for example "50 mg," not "one pill") and when you take it; at the bottom of the list, add which medicines you are allergic to and what reaction you had each time, and any medicines you have stopped. When you see a doctor, the easiest way is to bring the boxes. For how to write the list and what else to prepare before a visit, see section 4 of Guide No. 41.

→ No. 41 · Preparing for a doctor's visit

Pets need a place to go too

Prepare food, safe drinking water, regular medicines and suitable supplies for your pets, and decide who is responsible for taking them. For cats, think about litter and cleaning supplies. For dogs, bring poop bags. Other animals have their own needs for temperature, containers and care, so do not just copy the cat and dog list. Carriers or leashes should suit the pet, and let the pet get used to them in normal times.

If you are not home, who is willing and able to look after your pets or pick them up? Let a trusted person know where your pets may hide and where their supplies are. Find out ahead of time whether your destination can take pets, and what emergency plans pet boarding or daycare places have. Do not wait until you evacuate to find out you cannot bring them in. Animals also get stressed, so practise calmly.

6. When the power and internet are out, protect people first, then equipment and food

Flashlights, radios and a paper plan are for when your phone cannot be charged and your router does not work. After the power goes out, first check your family members' needs for care and for staying warm or cool, then share out lighting and charging devices based on the situation. Do not rely on a contact list whose only copy is on your phone, and do not use up all your battery checking for news.

Families who use power wheelchairs or breathing equipment, or have medicines that must stay cold, should confirm their own power outage plan with their equipment supplier, health care team or health authority ahead of time. Write down what power source the equipment needs, how long it can run, when you must move and where to. Backup power must be confirmed for that specific equipment. Do not decide it works just because the plug fits. Plan ahead where to go during a long power outage. If there is a medical emergency, get help right away.

In a power outage, first check your own electrical panel or fuse box to see whether a breaker has tripped; if you live in an apartment and only your unit has no power, contact the building manager or your landlord. BC Hydro says that if you rent and do not have a BC Hydro account, you can still report an outage at 1-800-224-9376: when you are asked for your account number, do not hang up, and you will be transferred to a person. During an outage, it is best to turn off electric heaters and major appliances and leave just one light on inside and one outside. For whether to contact your landlord, the property manager or a licensed tradesperson when there is a leak or a heating or electrical problem at home, see Guide No. 44.

→ No. 44 · Home repairs: who to call

If you want satellite Internet such as Starlink as a backup for when the power or Internet goes out, know that it also has to stay plugged in: the whole Standard 4 kit uses 75–100 W on average and the Mini 20–40 W, so it is best to actually connect your backup battery and test how long it lasts. Starlink's terms state that the service is not suitable for, and not designed for, life safety uses; it can be "another connection", but it cannot replace a paper contact list, other ways to reach people and a family emergency plan. See sections 5 and 13 of Guide No. 62.

→ No. 62 · Starlink: signing up and whether it is worth it

Do not use indoor burning as a "quick fix" for heat and power

Do not use a barbecue or camp stove indoors, and do not use a gas stove or oven to heat a room. Fuel-powered generators must not be placed indoors, in a garage or in a shed, even with the door open. Health Canada requires running them outdoors at least six metres from buildings, with the exhaust pointing away from doors and windows, and with the closest doors and windows, or those downwind, kept closed. Keep people and pets away from running equipment. If your space does not meet these conditions, do not use a balcony or garage instead.

You cannot see or smell carbon monoxide. The smoke alarms in your home may not detect carbon monoxide. As needed, get a carbon monoxide alarm with a Canadian certification mark and battery backup, and install, test and replace it as the maker instructs. If you hear the carbon monoxide alarm, go outside into fresh air right away and call 911 from outside. Do not stay inside to look for the source. Do not go back in until professionals have dealt with it.

7. Food after a power outage: you cannot decide by smelling it

In normal times, set your fridge to 4°C or below and your freezer to -18°C or below, and keep a suitable thermometer in them. When the power goes out, note roughly when it started, and try not to open the doors. Health Canada's general guide is: a fridge that stays closed keeps food cold for about four hours. A full freezer keeps food frozen for about 48 hours, and a half-full one for about 24 hours. These are estimates. They cannot promise the same result for every fridge or every food.

When the power comes back, judge by how long it was out, your temperature records and the state of the food. If frozen food still has ice crystals or has stayed at fridge temperature, you can refreeze it following official advice. When you cook it later, it still needs to reach the safe internal temperature for that food. Do not take "it feels a bit cold" as an accurate temperature reading. Perishable foods such as meat, dairy and leftovers that have been at room temperature for two hours or more should be thrown out. If you do not know the temperature or the time and cannot confirm the food is safe, do not risk eating it.

Throw out food that smells bad or has an unusual colour. But food that does not smell and looks normal may still be unsafe. Do not taste it to test it. Do not count on boiling it again to save all food that was stored badly. Even in winter, putting frozen food straight outside is not recommended: sunlight may thaw it, and animals may contaminate it. Do not treat food that has touched floodwater, chemicals or other contaminants as something you can wash and still eat.

If raw meat thaws and leaks juice, clean and disinfect the area it touched, and keep the juice away from other food. Think about emergency food and fridge food separately: if you keep enough ready-to-eat food that stores at room temperature, you will feel less pressure to eat doubtful food after a power outage.

8. If there is a problem with the water, first check what type of notice it is

Water still coming out of the tap does not mean it is safe to drink right now. Clear-looking water can still be contaminated. Check the specific notice from your water supplier or local health authority. Confirm which addresses are affected, the type of notice, what you can use the water for and when it is officially lifted. Do not decide on your own that a notice no longer applies because the power is back or the water looks clear again.

Boil Water Notice: the risk it is about can be dealt with by boiling the water properly. For drinking, brushing teeth, making ice, making drinks and washing fruits and vegetables eaten raw, use safe bottled water or water boiled as instructed. HealthLinkBC's general method is to boil water for at least one minute, or at least two minutes if you are more than 2,000 metres above sea level. Then store it in clean, covered, food-safe containers. Making ice does not kill these germs. Think about water for pets too.

Do Not Consume Advisory: do not use the water for drinking, making food, mixing baby formula or anything else where you swallow it. Do not take it to mean "just boil it a bit longer". Island Health's notice types list this separately from "Do Not Use". Whether you can wash your hands, shower and so on depends on what this specific notice allows.

Do Not Use Advisory: the limits are wider. Do not use the water on your own to wash your hands, bathe, wash dishes, do laundry and so on. Get another water source as the notice says, and follow the limits on use. The key difference between the two notices is "not to be swallowed" versus "other daily uses are limited too". Do not reduce them both to one word like "banned".

For water with chemical or serious contamination, boiling or adding bleach cannot make sure it is safe. You must find another safe water source. A regular water filter jug is also not a general tool for turning unsafe water into drinking water. This guide does not give a bleach recipe to use in any situation, because the strength of the product, how cloudy the water is and the type of contamination all affect treatment. If you need to treat water, follow the official notice for this event and the professional guidance that applies.

If you only see a "Water Quality Advisory", also read the specific risk and what it asks of groups such as children, seniors and people with weaker immune systems. Do not simply take it as "everyone can drink as usual". If you have a baby, special medical needs or a private well, be especially careful to check what applies to you.

9. Apartments, documents and neighbours: plan ahead for these too

If you live in an apartment or townhouse, ask your landlord, property manager or strata council about the building's emergency plans: how you will get notices, where the exits are, how people who need help can say so, and whether shared supplies are available. You still need to prepare in your own home. Do not just say "the property manager should take care of it". Agree on simple ways to help each other with neighbours you trust, but do not share your address, medical history or keys with people who do not need them.

Know where the main water, power and gas controls are in your home, and know under what instructions you would use them. Do not shut off the natural gas meter yourself just because you got an evacuation order. The gas company may handle this at the request of emergency officials. If the gas has been shut off at the meter, do not turn it back on yourself. A licensed gas contractor should do it. For immediate danger such as smelling gas, follow the "Staying safe and getting help" guide: leave first, then call for help from a safe place. Do not stay to figure out the valve.

Put your insurance contact information and copies of important documents in your plan. Check your actual policy for what it covers, what it excludes and how to make a claim. Both renters and homeowners need to look at their own situation. This guide does not say every loss will be covered, and it does not recommend any specific product.

10. A few small things you can finish this week

Below is the order this guide suggests. It is not a government timeline.

• Step one: spend a little time with the people you live with writing down contacts, meeting places and who does what. If you live alone, also find people you trust to support you.
• Step two: check the supplies you already have at home. First add safe drinking water, food you can eat as is, lighting and the care items you need.
• Step three: pack a grab-and-go bag you can carry, and put your contact plan in it. Make plans for children, seniors and pets based on each person's situation.
• Step four: do one real practice of finding things during a power outage, taking the bag out the door, and finding your meeting place without the internet. If you find problems, fix them.
• Step five: add a regular check reminder to your calendar. Update everything right away after you move, change your phone number, change medicines or your household changes. Check food, water, medicines, batteries and alarms each by their own dates and instructions.

Do not turn a practice into a sudden, scary test. Tell everyone it is a practice, and give each person tasks that suit what they can do. You can prepare one step at a time. Each time you fill a specific gap, you will be a little calmer the next time something changes.

Related guides and how to use them

The "Staying safe and getting help" guide explains the different help phone numbers and the first steps for immediate dangers such as fires, gas problems and electrical accidents. Once your family is prepared, you can keep the help information from it that applies to your area together with your plan.

Companion guides: the "Lost outdoors: prevention and survival" guide, for preparing for trips and for getting lost; and the "Natural hazards: staying safe" guide, for knowing what to do in different situations such as earthquakes, tsunamis and wildfires.

The "Health care roadmap" guide helps you understand the usual ways to get health care, and it connects with the medicine and care preparation in this guide. Its title and link are below. For specific health services, follow the current official sources listed in this guide and your actual care arrangements.

→ No. 5 · Health care roadmap

"Winter tires in B.C.": Before you drive in winter: check DriveBC for road conditions, keep an emergency kit and warm clothes in the car, and know which routes require winter tires.

→ No. 30 · Winter tires in B.C.

"B.C. 911 upgrade and 604 callbacks": What changes with B.C.'s 911 upgrade: how to answer the recorded callback from a 604 number, why families in Victoria who rely on T9-1-1 should check first, and checking the local emergency numbers before going somewhere remote.

→ No. 40 · B.C. 911 upgrade and 604 callbacks

"Preparing for a doctor's visit": How to write a medication list (write the milligrams, not "one pill"), how to prepare for a doctor's visit, and how to ask for an interpreter when your English is not enough.

→ No. 41 · Preparing for a doctor's visit

"Home repairs: who to call": In an outage, check your own breakers first; who fixes leaks, heating and broken locks, and which numbers to save ahead of time.

→ No. 44 · Home repairs: who to call

"Starlink: signing up and whether it is worth it": Using Starlink satellite Internet as a backup: it must stay plugged in, how much power each model uses, how to test a backup battery, and why Starlink's terms say it is not for life safety uses; plus how to sign up, cancel and return the equipment.

→ No. 62 · Starlink: signing up and whether it is worth it

All official sources in this guide were checked on October 29, 2026 (UTC). During a disaster, the actual areas affected, water notices, roads and services can change. Follow the official notices issued at the time.