Plan for the people who need a different plan

A household plan built for two healthy adults fails the household that includes an infant, a senior, someone with a chronic condition, or a service animal. Special household needs aren't a separate prep — they're the prep, shaped around the people who actually live there. The plan is to identify who needs what, and to build the kit and the plan around those needs rather than around a generic checklist. This page covers the specific needs — infants, seniors, chronic conditions, and service animals — that turn a generic plan into a real one for the people in your home.

Infants and young children

For an infant, the kit is formula or breastmilk storage, diapers and wipes for at least a week, bottles and a way to clean them, infant medications, and comfort items. If you formula-feed, store the formula and the water to mix it. If you breastfeed, plan for your own nutrition and hydration — you're feeding two. The CDC has specific infant feeding guidance for emergencies; it's worth reading before you need it.

For young children, add a week of their food (the food they'll actually eat), a change of clothes, a comfort item, and activities — a disruption is boring and scary for a kid, and a familiar toy or book matters. Include any pediatric medications and their dosing information. Keep a copy of immunization records. The records are the plan; the food and comfort items are the morale.

Plan for their care if you can't be there. Who picks up from school or daycare, who's authorized, and where they go. The school's emergency release plan is part of your plan, not a separate thing. If you're stuck at work and the school evacuates, who gets your kid? The answer is part of the plan, written down, and known to the school.

Babies are the most time-sensitive prep. Formula, diapers, wipes, and a clean water supply for mixing formula can't be improvised. A week's supply is the minimum; two weeks is better if your baby is on a specific formula that may not be at every store. Don't assume the store will be open or stocked during a disruption — stock ahead.

Plan for the developmental stage your child is at. A newborn has different needs than a toddler than a school-age kid. The kit and the plan evolve as they grow. A go-bag with a newborn's onesies and a toddler's pull-ups is not the same kit. Update the kit as the child grows, on the same schedule as the clothes-by-the-bed check.

Seniors and mobility needs

For a senior or anyone with mobility needs, the plan is about access and assistance. If they use a walker, wheelchair, or cane, the evacuation route has to work for that — no stairs-only route, a vehicle that fits the equipment, and a destination that's accessible. Plan who helps and rehearse it; an evacuation isn't the time to discover the ramp doesn't fit. Ready.gov's disability preparedness page covers this in depth.

Medication continuity is critical — a week or more of prescriptions, a list of medications and dosing, and a plan with the pharmacy and clinician for refills during a disruption. The medication basics page covers this in depth. Keep a printed medication list in the kit, not just on a phone. A phone dies; a printed list doesn't.

For someone who needs power for medical equipment — a CPAP, oxygen concentrator, powered wheelchair — the power plan is the medical plan. Register with your utility's medical-priority list if they offer one, plan battery backup, and know where you'd go for power if yours is out for days. This is a conversation with the clinician, not a guess. The power basics page covers the power side.

Plan for the social side. A senior living alone needs a check-in plan — who checks on them, how often, and what happens if they can't be reached. The isolation that's tolerable on a normal day is dangerous during a multi-day outage. The 'who checks on the senior' question is a household plan question, not a nice-to-have.

For cognitive needs — dementia, memory issues — the plan includes familiar routines, familiar items, and a person who can reassure and redirect. A disruption that breaks the routine is harder for someone with cognitive needs. The plan for a senior with dementia includes the person who keeps the routine as much as the supplies.

Chronic conditions and service animals

For a chronic condition — diabetes, asthma, dialysis, a heart condition — the plan is continuity of the treatment that keeps you stable. A week of medications, the supplies (test strips, inhaler, insulin storage), and a plan for the treatment that can't be interrupted (dialysis, for example, needs a known alternate facility). Talk to the care team about what 'a week of disruption' looks like for your condition and what to have on hand. The CDC has chronic-condition preparedness guidance.

For a service animal, plan for their needs the way you plan for your own — food, water, vet records, and their access rights in shelters and transport. A service animal is not a pet for planning purposes; they come with you and their needs are part of your medical plan. Keep their records with yours. The access rights matter during evacuation — know what a service animal is allowed into.

The common thread: identify the specific needs, plan for continuity of the things that can't be interrupted, and rehearse with the people involved. A generic plan applied to a specific household is a weak plan. The specific plan is the real one. The plan that accounts for the infant's formula and the senior's walker and the diabetic's insulin is the plan that works.

Plan for the supplies that are specific to the condition. Insulin needs refrigeration and a backup power plan; a nebulist needs power; a CPAP needs power. The medical equipment's power needs are part of the household's power plan, not a separate medical-only concern. The power plan and the medical plan are the same plan for these households.

The honest summary: the special-needs plan is the household plan, done specifically. It's not a separate add-on; it's the core, because the household has the people it has, not the people on the checklist. The plan that names the actual people, their actual conditions, and their actual needs is the plan that holds up. Don't let the generic checklist override the real household.

This is planning guidance, not emergency advice. In an emergency, call 911. See a mistake? Report it.

Keep planning the basics