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My plan, my needs: an emergency plan for people with disabilities

A storm, a fire or a long power outage asks more of you when you rely on a wheelchair, a hearing aid, a machine that needs electricity, a medicine that needs a fridge, or a person who knows how to help. This page is for a calm day before that. It keeps a line for each person in your support network, walks through the planning steps on the page Ready.gov, the U.S. government’s emergency preparedness website, wrote for people with disabilities, lets you open only the tips that are about you, and turns Ready.gov’s list of additional kit items into a checklist. It puts all of it on one sheet you can print or hand to the person who has your key. It works the same if you are filling it in with, or for, someone you help. There is no account and no price.

Private by design. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. What you write and tick is kept in this browser on this device from the first box you fill in or tick, and one button erases it. This page runs no analytics or tracking. How we handle privacy. That is not the same as secret: anyone who uses this browser on this device can read the plan, and a plan like this can say a lot about your health. On a shared or public computer print or download it and use Erase everything before you go.

If there is danger right now, call 911 and follow what local officials tell you. This page is for before. If the disaster has already happened, open After a disaster. If you are thinking about ending your life or hurting yourself, call or text 988 (in the U.S.) now, or open Get help now.

This tool needs JavaScript. You can do the same thing on paper: write the people who would help you and how to reach them; under that, where your supplies are and who has a key, how you would get out and get around, and what a stranger needs to know to communicate with you; under that, what is still missing from your kit. Ready.gov’s own page is at ready.gov/disability.

Good to know

Where the steps and the lists come from

We added no advice of our own about what to plan for or what to pack. The sentence that starts with “Ready.gov:” under each of the eight boxes in step 2, the six groups of tips in step 3 and the eight kit items in step 4 are Ready.gov’s words, from its page People with Disabilities (marked last updated 09/09/2026). We read it on October 9, 2026. Four things are ours: the titles of the boxes in step 2, the last sentence under each box (the one that says what to write), the examples, and the short names the sheet uses for the groups and for three of the kit items. Ready.gov says an emergency kit should have items to meet your individual needs, and to consider the items you use every day; these are lists to work from, and the page treats them that way.

What else Ready.gov says on that page

Know what disasters could affect your area, which ones could call for an evacuation and when to shelter in place.
Follow mobile alerts and warnings about severe weather in your area.
Wear medical alert tags or bracelets. Also add pertinent medical information to your electronic devices.
Plan for children and adults who may have difficulty in unfamiliar or chaotic environments.
If you need to evacuate, you’ll need to know whether your shelter allows pets or not, since some shelters only allow service or support animals.
A disaster can disrupt mail service for days or weeks. If you depend on Social Security or other regular benefits, switching to electronic payments is an easy way to protect yourself financially before disaster strikes. Ready.gov prints two numbers for this: direct deposit, 800-333-1795, and the Direct Express prepaid debit card, 877-212-9991.
For individuals with Alzheimer’s and related dementia: do not leave the person alone. If evacuating, help manage the change in environment by bringing a pillow and blanket or other comforting items they can hold onto. When at a shelter, try to stay away from exits and choose a quiet corner. If there is an episode of agitation, respond to the emotions being expressed; for example, say “You’re frightened and want to go home. It’s ok. I’m right here with you.” Our guide to memory loss and dementia has more.
People with disabilities, access and functional needs, and older adults may be at increased risk to extreme heat. Our page When it’s dangerously hot is for that day.

How it works

My people holds up to 12 lines: a name, how to reach them, a note.
My plan has eight boxes. Leaving a box after you change it keeps it; the Keep button does the same thing. An empty box is left off the sheet.
The lists that fit me has six groups of Ready.gov’s tips. They stay closed until you open them. A ticked line goes on your sheet with an empty box beside it.
My kit is the checklist: eight items, in Ready.gov’s words. Each has a small tick for “not something I use”, so oxygen, for example, is not on your list if you do not use it.
My sheet prints the people, the plan, your list, what is in the kit and what is still to get.

What this page can’t do

It does not know your local offices. No emergency management office, transit provider, registry or power company is listed here, and not every place has a registry. Ready.gov says to contact your local emergency management office; they are the ones to ask.
It signs you up for nothing: no registry, no priority power list, no alerts. Those are calls you make.
It sends no alerts and cannot warn you of anything.
It is not medical advice. It names no medicine and no amount. Ready.gov says to talk to your doctor or pharmacist about an emergency supply of medicines, and to your doctor or health care provider about equipment that needs electricity.
It cannot remind you to check the kit or charge a battery, and it is not an official form: it is not a Ready.gov or FEMA page, and nobody from an emergency agency has looked at it.
It does not cover every disability. Ready.gov’s page has the six groups shown here and the lines on dementia and heat above; the box at the end of step 3 is for what none of them says.
The plan does not move to another phone or computer by itself. Print it, download it, or use My data on this device to carry a backup across.

Tools that go with this

Before it happens: the emergency plan and the basic supply checklist for everyone in the home.
My medicines: the list of what you take, to print and keep in the kit.
My emergency card: a wallet card with who to call, allergies and medicines.
Our way out: a home fire escape plan with a drill timer.
Them too: an emergency plan and kit for the animals you live with.
When you can’t afford medical equipment: wheelchairs, walkers, oxygen and hospital beds, what Medicare and Medicaid cover, and where to borrow.
After a disaster: where to sleep tonight, FEMA, replacing papers and the scams that follow.
All the free tools, and how to save them on your phone so they open with no signal.

A plan on paper, not a promise. This page writes down what you decide and counts what you tick. It does not know your body, your home or your area, and it does not replace your doctor or the instructions of local officials. In an emergency, call 911.

The tool and the wording around it were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy); the planning steps, the tips and the kit list are Ready.gov’s, and the plan itself is written by the person it is about. It was not reviewed by an emergency manager or a disability organization, and it has been checked by programs, not yet used by people. Also in Spanish: Plan de emergencia para personas con discapacidades; both pages keep the same plan on this device, and each shows Ready.gov’s lines as its own language’s page words them. The page holds one plan and keeps it until you erase it. Found a mistake, or something that does not work with your screen reader or switch? Email [email protected].