Readiness

Emergency & Disaster Readiness
Financial Readiness
Health & Medical Readiness
Family & Household Readiness

Document Readiness
End-of-Life Readiness
Digital Readiness

Emergency & Disaster Readiness

What is an emergency and natural Disaster?

Emergency and disaster readiness means knowing what to do, where to go, what you need, and how to receive reliable information when an emergency or disaster occurs.

How to prepare for disasters and emergencies?

1. Make a Plan

Create an emergency plan with your family or household. Discuss:

How you will contact one another if separated
Where you will meet
Where you will shelter
Your evacuation routes and destination
What essential items you will take
Where emergency supplies are located

2. Build a Kit

Prepare enough essential supplies to manage on your own for several days.

Include:

Water and nonperishable food
Medications and medical supplies
First aid kit
Flashlight and extra batteries
Cell phone chargers or backup power
Hygiene and sanitation supplies
Cash and copies of important documents
Clothing, blankets, and other basic necessities

Prepare additional supplies for children, older adults, people with disabilities or medical needs, pets, and service animals.

3. Stay Informed

During an emergency:

Follow instructions from local officials
Watch trusted local news
Listen to emergency radio broadcasts
Call 2-1-1 for local resources and assistance

Visit these trusted resources for emergency alerts, preparedness information, weather warnings, evacuation information, and disaster assistance:

Financial Readiness

What is Financial Readiness?

Financial readiness means being prepared to handle unexpected expenses or changes in your financial situation without creating a larger financial crisis.

It includes understanding your essential expenses, maintaining emergency savings when possible, managing debt, keeping financial information organized, and protecting yourself from financial risks.

How to become Financial Ready?

1. Know Your Bare-Minimum Survival Number

Calculate how much you need each month for essential expenses such as housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, medications, insurance, and minimum debt payments.

This is the minimum amount your household needs to continue functioning during a financial disruption.

2. Establish an Emergency Fund

Start by working toward at least $1,000 in emergency savings and gradually increase your reserve as your finances allow.

Keep emergency savings accessible so unexpected expenses do not immediately require credit cards or high-interest loans.

3. Take Advantage of Employer Benefits

If your employer offers matching retirement contributions, consider contributing enough to receive the full available match.

Review your employer's benefits periodically so you understand what resources are available to you.

4. Reduce High-Interest Debt

Make required payments on your obligations while prioritizing high-interest debt, particularly credit cards and expensive consumer debt.

Reducing high-interest debt lowers the amount of money already committed each month.

5. Watch Your Money

Regularly review your accounts for:

Bank and credit card fees
Late or overdraft fees
Automatic renewals
Subscriptions and memberships
Unfamiliar transactions

Keep important financial and insurance information current, including beneficiaries and authorized representatives.

6. Protect Yourself From Financial Scams

Be cautious with unexpected requests involving money or personal information.

When money is involved, slow down, verify, and then act.

Health & Medical Readiness

What is Health & Medical Readiness?

Health and medical readiness means being prepared to manage your health and access the care you need during everyday situations, unexpected illness or injury, and emergencies.

How to prepare for Health & Medical Needs?

1. Take Care of Your Health

Support your physical and emotional health through nutritious food, appropriate physical activity, adequate sleep, healthy ways of managing stress, and activities and relationships that contribute to your well-being.

2. Keep Up With Preventive Care

Stay current with healthcare appropriate for your age, health history, and individual needs, including:

Routine medical visits
Recommended vaccinations
Health screenings
Dental care
Vision and hearing care
Laboratory testing when recommended

Knowing your family health history can also help you and your healthcare provider identify risks and appropriate preventive care.

3. Know Your Medical Information

Keep an updated record of:

Medical conditions
Medications and supplements
Allergies
Healthcare providers
Pharmacy
Health insurance
Emergency contacts

Make this information available to an appropriate trusted person when necessary.

4. Maintain Essential Medications & Supplies

Refill important medications before they run out and periodically check expiration dates.

Keep necessary medical supplies, eyeglasses, hearing aids, mobility equipment, and other assistive devices available and in working condition.

5. Prepare for Medical Disruptions

If you depend on electricity-powered equipment, refrigerated medication, oxygen, mobility equipment, or other essential medical supplies, consider what you would do during a power outage, evacuation, transportation problem, or interruption in healthcare services.

Family & Household Readiness

What is Family & Household Readiness?

Family and household readiness means preparing everyone in your household to act together, care for one another, and continue essential responsibilities when normal routines or services are disrupted.

How to become Family & Household Ready?

1. Understand Your Household's Needs

Consider the needs of everyone who depends on your household, including:

Children and infants
Older adults
Pregnant individuals
People with disabilities or medical conditions
People with communication or language needs
People with limited transportation
People who depend on medical or assistive equipment
Pets and service animals

Think about what each person would need if electricity, transportation, communication, healthcare, caregiving, or other regular services became unavailable.

2. Share Essential Household Knowledge

Share essential household information with another trusted household member or designated person, including:

Which bills must be paid
Which payments are automatic
How to contact essential service providers
Where prescriptions are filled
How essential equipment works
Where important documents are stored
How authorized digital access can be obtained

Keep passwords, account numbers, and other sensitive information secure.

3. Create a Backup Care Plan

Identify trusted people who could help if the usual caregiver becomes unavailable.

Consider backup arrangements for children, older adults, medical needs, pets, transportation, groceries, and other essential responsibilities.

4. Keep Important Contacts & Information Accessible

Maintain an accessible list of important contacts, including family, doctors, pharmacies, schools, caregivers, neighbors, utilities, insurance companies, property management, and other essential services.

Make sure household members also know where medications, keys, documents, emergency supplies, medical equipment, and utility controls are located.

5. Plan for Temporary Disruptions

Consider how your household would function during:

Illness or hospitalization
Caregiver absence
Power, water, or internet outages
Evacuation
Loss of transportation
Temporary loss of income
School or childcare closure
Healthcare or pharmacy disruption
Temporary displacement from home

Document Readiness

What is Document Readiness?

Document readiness means keeping important personal, financial, medical, legal, and household records organized, current, protected, and accessible when you need them.

How to become Document Ready?

1. Identify & Organize Important Documents

Organize important records such as:

Identification and vital records
Passports and immigration documents
Medical information
Insurance policies
Financial and tax records
Property and vehicle records
Employment and benefit information
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and advance healthcare directives
Important household and pet records

Keep information current and replace expired documents when necessary.

2. Protect Your Originals

Protect difficult-to-replace original documents from theft, fire, water, and other damage.

Consider a secure fire-resistant and water-resistant container, home safe, safe deposit box, or another appropriate location.

3. Create Digital Backups

Keep digital copies of important documents using secure storage such as:

Cloud storage
An encrypted USB/thumb drive
Another secure digital storage device

For additional protection, consider keeping backups in more than one location.

Digital copies may not replace original or certified documents when originals are legally required.

4. Make Information Accessible

Make sure a trusted person knows where important documents and backups are located and how authorized access can be obtained if you become unavailable.

Protect passwords, Social Security numbers, account numbers, and other sensitive information.

5. Review & Replace

Periodically update your documents, contact information, beneficiaries, insurance information, and authorized representatives.

Know which agencies or organizations to contact if an important document is lost, stolen, or destroyed.

End-of-Life Readiness

What is End-of-Life Readiness?

End-of-life readiness means preparing your personal, medical, legal, financial, and household affairs so your wishes are known and trusted people have the information and authority they may need if you become seriously ill, unable to make decisions, or die.

How to become End-of-Life Ready?

1. Decide Who Can Speak for You

Choose someone you trust to make important decisions if you become unable to communicate or make those decisions yourself.

Discuss your wishes with that person and consider appropriate documents such as an advance healthcare directive or power of attorney.

2. Document Your Wishes

Consider documenting your preferences regarding:

Medical care
Healthcare decision-making
Burial or cremation
Funeral, memorial, religious, or cultural traditions
Organ or tissue donation
Other important personal wishes

Make sure the appropriate people know your wishes.

3. Organize Your Legal & Financial Affairs

Keep important information organized, including:

Will or trust
Powers of attorney
Financial and retirement accounts
Property and debts
Insurance
Beneficiaries
Tax information
Other important obligations

Consider an appropriate estate plan based on your circumstances.

4. Plan for Those Who Depend on You

Consider who would care for children, older adults, people who depend on your assistance, pets, or other animals if you were suddenly unavailable.

Identify who could assume responsibility and what information, resources, and instructions they would need.

5. Prepare Information for Someone You Trust

Make sure an appropriate trusted person knows where to find important documents and information about your healthcare, finances, property, bills, insurance, professional contacts, and other responsibilities.

Include appropriate instructions for your digital life, such as email, social media, cloud storage, photos, subscriptions, websites, and other digital property.

6. Review When Life Changes

Review your plans after significant changes involving relationships, family, health, property, finances, or other important circumstances.

Digital Readiness

What is Digital Readiness?

Digital readiness means being prepared to safely access and manage the devices, accounts, information, and online services you depend on in everyday life.

How to become Digital Ready?

1. Know What You Depend On

Identify important digital services such as:

Email
Banking and payments
Healthcare and pharmacy accounts
Government services
Work and school accounts
Cloud storage
Transportation
Communication services
Household and utility accounts

Consider what you would do if you suddenly lost access.

2. Protect Your Accounts & Devices

Use strong, unique passwords and enable multi-factor authentication when available.

Protect devices with screen locks, security updates, and device-location or remote-lock features when available.

Never provide passwords or verification codes in response to an unexpected request.

3. Back Up Important Information

Do not keep the only copy of important information on one device.

Back up documents, photos, contacts, medical information, financial records, and other difficult-to-replace information using secure cloud storage, encrypted USB/thumb drives, or another secure method.

4. Prepare for Outages, Device Loss & Account Recovery

Keep important information available offline in case internet, cellular service, or electricity becomes unavailable.

Maintain charging cables and consider a portable power bank.

Make sure your recovery email, phone number, multi-factor authentication methods, and other account recovery information are current.

Know how to locate or remotely lock a lost device when those features are available.

5. Protect Yourself From Digital Scams

Be cautious with unexpected emails, texts, calls, social media messages, QR codes, links, attachments, and requests for personal information.

Before sending money, providing information, downloading something, or signing into an account, independently verify who is contacting you.

6. Share Essential Digital Knowledge

Share information about essential household digital systems with an appropriate trusted person.