How to Make a Family Emergency Communication Plan

A family emergency communication plan answers one question before you need it. If phones stop working, how does everyone find each other? The simplest way to build one is a PACE plan, four layers of communication from the method you use every day down to the one that works when everything else fails. It takes about an hour to write down, and most of that hour is a conversation at the kitchen table.

Why your phone isn't a plan

During the February 2024 AT&T outage, the FCC found that more than 92 million calls were blocked over at least 12 hours, including more than 25,000 attempts to reach 911. Storms, wildfires and power outages cause the same kind of failure locally, and networks also jam when everyone calls at once. A plan assumes the phone might not be there.

Step 1. Write your PACE plan

PACE stands for Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency. Your primary is usually normal calls and texts. Your alternate might be a messaging app over Wi-Fi or a text to an out-of-state relative who relays news. Your contingency is something that doesn't depend on the cell network, such as GMRS radios or a Meshtastic radio that sends texts with no cell service. Your emergency method is the one that needs no technology at all, usually going to a meeting point at a set time. Our quick-start guide to PACE planning goes deeper.

Step 2. Pick meeting points

Choose one place near home, like a neighbor's porch, for a house fire or gas leak. Choose a second place outside your neighborhood in case you can't get home. Write down the address and a time window for each, so nobody waits at the wrong place all day. Our guide to family meeting places covers this step in detail.

Step 3. Name an out-of-area contact

Long-distance calls and texts often go through when local lines are jammed. Pick one relative or friend in another region whose number everyone knows by heart or carries on paper. Everyone checks in with that person. Here's more on choosing an out-of-area contact.

Step 4. Decide who does what

Who picks up the kids from school? Who checks on a parent who lives alone? Who grabs the pets? Settle it now, along with a backup for each job in case someone is traveling.

Step 5. Put it on paper and on every phone

A plan that lives in one person's head doesn't help when that person is at work. Write it down, give everyone a copy, and keep one in the car. Our Contingency Planner gives you a structured place to write each of these pieces, and ReadyPlan puts the same plan on every family member's phone, available offline.

Step 6. Practice once

Pick a Saturday, turn off the phones for an hour, and run the plan. You'll find the gaps fast, like the radio nobody charged or the meeting point that turns out to be closed on weekends.

Common questions

What is a PACE plan?

A communication plan with four layers, Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency, so there's always a next method when one fails.

What's the best way to communicate when cell service is down?

Within radio range, GMRS radios carry voice and need an FCC license, while Meshtastic radios carry text and need no license in the US. Beyond radio range, a pre-agreed meeting point and time is the most reliable fallback.

How often should we update the plan?

Look at it once a year and any time someone changes jobs, schools or phone numbers.

For a full walkthrough, read When the Phones Go Down, our eBook on building a family communication plan.