Essential guidance
Medical continuity can be as important as water, shelter and transport. This guide is for planning and communication, not prescribing or changing treatment.
Urgent situations
Call your local emergency service immediately for life-threatening danger. Follow professional responders and current local alerts over general online instructions.
Write a one-page medical handover
Record each person’s name, emergency contact, known allergies, medical conditions relevant to emergency care and regular medications. Include medicine name, dose, schedule and prescriber, plus any essential devices.
Keep a paper copy in a waterproof pouch and a securely stored offline digital copy. Share it only with people who need it, and protect sensitive medical details.
Where language may be a barrier, include an understandable translation of critical allergies or instructions.
Create a medicine continuity plan
Ask your pharmacist or healthcare professional what emergency supply is legally and clinically appropriate and how to handle a missed dose; do not independently double doses or substitute medicines.
Verify expiry dates, original labels, storage temperatures, refrigeration needs and availability of spare batteries or compatible chargers for medical devices.
For travel, check documentation requirements and whether medicines and controlled substances may be carried across borders. Keep essential medicines accessible rather than buried in checked baggage.
Plan for power and communications failure
Identify devices that depend on mains power: oxygen equipment, CPAP, refrigerated medicines, pumps and mobility aids. Write the safe backup plan with the device provider.
Keep a list of medical assistance numbers, pharmacy contacts, nearby clinics and accessible transport options. Coordinate early if an outage threatens life-supporting equipment.
Arrange an outside contact who knows when to seek assistance if you miss a check-in.
Before leaving or evacuating
Review the weather and route; check your medication supply and appointment needs. Pack medicines in their required temperature range, water, hand hygiene items and clearly labeled written information.
If treatment is time-critical, contact a healthcare professional before departure rather than relying on improvised substitutions.
Field checklist
Tick items to review your readiness. Checkmarks remain on this page only and are not stored.
Related field guides
Further reading
This reference is educational and is not a substitute for emergency responder instructions, training or medical advice.