Why people should get a Family Emergency Binder:

What is Family Emergency Preparedness Binder, and Why do you need it?

First and foremost, a Family Emergency Binder is a great way to get organized.

Second, consider that you have encountered a hurricane storm, a wildfire, or other natural disaster and your given little time to evacuate the place. Let’s say they say the storm will hit in two or three hours.

In that situation, everyone might be running around gathering everything that might be needed for hygiene needs. While out of the home you may encounter needing, passwords, documents, or other important information, and in emergency, it might be hard to think of everything one may need.  Possibly rushing and grabbing what we may see as necessary from only what is in front of our eyes.

For the reasons mentioned above, one should grab a family emergency binder. A Family Emergency Binder holds all the necessary information about all the things you might need related to the family and their health, life, and living.

What should be included in a Family Emergency Preparedness Binder:

Although it differs from family to family, here’s a list that we have prepared to keep in our family emergency binder. You can also buy our Binder Printables here. 

1. Essential Identification records and material:

Such as:

• Social Security number
• Driving Licenses
• Employee Identity Card
• State IDs
• Children Birth Certificates
• Passports of everyone and their copies.
• Marriage Certificates

2. Necessary Medical Information:

All the medical records about the family, such as:

• All the immunization reports
• Medical history of every person in the family including (blood type, sicknesses, surgeries, or any injury) 
• Medication information about every family member (including the schedule of giving the medication, e.g., time Chart) 
• Medical Insurance card copies (front and back) both sides
• Name, address, and contact information of your family dentist and health care centers
• Dental record of every family member
• Health-related insurance information

3. Insurance Policy Information:

The insurance information is deemed very important because it will give support to avert disastrous situations. I keep:

• Auto policy information
• Information about your agent and the company and their contact numbers
• Insurance cards 
• Life insurance policy information
• And information about home inventory 

4. All the necessary financial information:

I keep track and copy every piece of documents related to financial information, such as:

• Banking Information
• Statements
• Credit and Debit Card Numbers and their passwords and copies of both cards (front & back)
• Brokerage contracts, banking agent information, and account numbers
• Deposit information
• Tax Documents
• Information about all your investments and retirement plans
• Stock bonds account details with the contact and address.
• A list of all the sources of income with their addresses, contact information, and any relevant information
• Death insurance policy information if you have one

5. Essential Legal Documents:

• House Deeds information
• Car purchase information
• Your power of attorney
• Leasing information
• House and Real estate land information
• Contact information of your lawyers
• Weapon permits and purchase records including the information of the arms dealer you purchased the weapon
• Other legal documents

6. Contacts:

Contacts for people that may want to know of a death of a loved one

• Contact information of children’s school
• Friends and Family contact information
• Other Professional contacts

7. Cyber Credentials:

• Login credentials to your company or where you work

• Contact information of your employees or colleagues.

• Email addresses and passwords

• Social Media Accounts and their passwords

• List of important sites you often visit.

Along this same line I consider digital information such as my photos and journals. I back up all my photos and everything on the cloud and a USB drive.

8. Religious Information:

• Necessary certificates issued from your church such as baptism or ordination certificate
• Personal Blessings from father

It is nice to keep all the required documents and certificates issued by your religious authority.

9.   Household information:

• Photos and pictures of every person in your family
• Photos of friends with their names in case you get separated
• Weapon names and their serial information
• Valuable jewelry or antiques that you bought, their information
• Videos and pictures of every serial and important account numbers
• Include pictures of your family members, friends, and neighbors in case you get separated.
• Rental agreements or house deed information
• Marriage or Divorce papers
• Child Custody Papers 
• Insurance policy documents such as homeowner insurance
• All your diplomas, certifications, and degrees
• Contact information

Try to make a list of everything and keep them in a USB drive.

10. Information about your Vehicles:

All the information about vehicles may include: 

• Vehicle purchase information, including the company store information.
• Owner of the vehicle
• Records of maintenance, upkeep, and repairs
• A copy of the insurance policy document and the name of the company, its address, and phone number
• List of auto mechanics and their phone numbers

How will a Family Emergency Binder help?

If there were a hurricane that destroyed the houses, how will you prove to the authorities you lived in that house upon your return? How will you identify? It will take a lot of time to rebuild all the documents and necessary certificates from scratch. 

The family emergency binder will come in handy:

• When upon coming back to the place. You will have to prove to the government that you lived in the affected area and collect government aid.
• All the necessary information required by the insurance companies will be required to give you the money.
• It will save you time from rebuilding all the essential documents, obviously saving you money.

Where to keep your emergency preparedness binder

• You can purchase a safe or create a hidden location to store your emergency binder but be sure to keep it in a place where you can keep it safe from any damage

• The best option is to buy a fireproof safety box and keep it in your cupboard. You can keep your emergency binder in that safety box.

You can also go for a Cyber emergency binder (alternative)

Think of it as an alternative to the physical emergency binder. Scan all the necessary documents and information about you and your family members, including the pictures and videos, and upload them to a Google Drive or any other cloud drive.

This is very useful if you think you cannot maintain a physical emergency binder or believe that the home is not safe to keep the family emergency binder.

Overall, every document’s downloadable format is useful if your physical family emergency binder gets damaged.

Also keep in mind whether you have access to computers, the internet and the such.

Don’t forget to get a fireproof/ waterproof storage for any external hard drives

Summary: 

In the end, I hope that no one ever needs to use the emergency binder. But like in every bus, there’s an emergency door or safety exit in the buildings; these are built for an emergency. Similarly, the family emergency binder must have everything in one place, and all you have to do is carry a small box with you. We have created an Emergency Binder with colorful, printable worksheets to fill in the information and gather any needed documents. 

More Preparedness Planning

End Of Life Celebration Plan