Emergency Contacts Template
If something happened to your parent tonight, would you know what to do?
Blood type. Insurance group number. Who has legal authority to make decisions if they can't speak for themselves. Most families have this scattered across post-it notes and half-remembered facts — until someone needs it and it isn't there.
There was a kitchen cabinet in my mom's house. On the inside of the door, post-it notes everywhere — phone numbers in pencil, some with no names next to them. My father-in-law had something similar next to his recliner. Both of them thought they were prepared, and in a way they were — for themselves. But in a real emergency, neither one of them was going to be the one looking.
It's the illusion of a plan — and it works fine, right up until the person who built it isn't the one who needs it.
What the Emergency & Family Information document covers
Split into two parts — the emergency snapshot for the first 30 minutes, and the full family directory for the days that follow.
Personal & Medical Snapshot
Name, date of birth, blood type, insurance, current medications, allergies, and known conditions — what a doctor needs to know in the first five minutes.
Healthcare Authority
Who has legal authority to make medical decisions if this person can't speak for themselves, and where the signed proxy or POA documents are located.
Emergency Contacts & Phone Access
Who to call and in what order — because whoever picks up first is making decisions — plus phone PIN and legacy/trusted contact info for locked devices.
Medical Providers
The full directory: primary care, specialists, dentist, eye doctor, mental health provider, and pharmacy — not just the emergency-snapshot version.
Where Key Documents Are Located
Will, trust, advance directive, POA, life insurance, property deeds, and safe or safe-deposit box locations — not the documents themselves, just where to find them.
Faith, Family & Pets
Clergy or community contact, who has a copy of this document, and who cares for pets or dependents if this person is hospitalized.
Built for the person picking it up — a spouse, a sibling, a neighbor, a paramedic who's never met your family — not just the person who filled it in.
Ready? It's a five-minute favor to the people who'd need this.
Why I built this
My name is Mike Ward. I've been through six losses in my own family, including my son Cameron. For years, my mom's "emergency plan" was post-it notes taped inside a kitchen cabinet — accurate for her, useless for anyone else. I built this document for the person who actually has to use it: a spouse, a sibling, a neighbor, a first responder who's never met your family. I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice — talk to one about anything involving power of attorney. I hope this saves your family a few of the guesses mine had to make.
A good start — here's what comes next
This covers the contacts and access your family needs in an emergency. Leo Kit goes further — helping you organize all of life's essential information in one place, so your next of kin can find what they need, when they need it. Peace of mind for you, a smaller burden for the people you love.