When you can’t look it up

The power has gone out. Your phone is nearly flat. The instructions for the backup equipment are somewhere in an email, and the person who normally operates it is away.

That is an inconvenient time to discover that nobody remembers which button starts the power station’s AC outlets—or where the charging cable lives.

A few useful pages can save a lot of searching. Paper maps, contact numbers, checklists, and equipment instructions remain readable without electricity, a password, or an internet connection. A flashlight may be all you need.

This can begin with a folder and a pen. Make the information easy to find, easy to read, and useful to someone besides the person who wrote it.

Put the right information in three places

A small contact card in a wallet or bag is also useful. You may be able to borrow a phone even when you cannot use your own.

Keep a map you can actually navigate with

A road atlas gives you the wider picture when a familiar route is closed. A state or regional map adds detail. For remote travel, choose a map appropriate to the roads and terrain rather than assuming a national atlas shows every junction.

Mark likely destinations and identify alternative approaches while you have time. Write down addresses and useful landmarks. Include a route home from places you visit regularly.

Then practice: find your current location, orient the map, trace a route, and identify the road numbers and junctions. Let another household member try. Owning a map and being comfortable using it are different accomplishments.

A printed road is not proof of a currently open or passable road. Maps can be outdated and do not show a new washout, fire closure, or flooded crossing. Follow current official restrictions and actual conditions. Avoid turning an unfamiliar back road into an improvised escape route.

Keep maps somewhere accessible to a passenger or while safely stopped. Add a pencil and a small light. Our away-from-home guide covers the rest of the travel plan.

Put the outage checklist on the front page

The first page should help a tired person decide what to do next. Adapt this starter list to your household and the conditions. Immediate danger and official instructions take priority over finishing a checklist.

1. Check people and immediate hazards. Find a flashlight. Check anyone who needs assistance, essential equipment, and whether the building is safe to remain in.
2. Write down when power stopped. Keep a simple note of important updates and actions.
3. Check the available information. Use official alerts, utility information, or a battery radio. Record the utility’s reporting number and outage-information source on the page in advance.
4. Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Follow your written food and medication plan. Know where the thermometer, cooler, ice, and printed food-safety guidance are.
5. Set up only the backup equipment you can operate safely. Use its tested instruction card and manufacturer’s guidance. Prioritize essential loads and note battery levels.
6. Send a brief household check-in. Use the agreed contact and backup method. Check on neighbors when safe and consistent with your plan.
7. Reassess. Consider indoor temperature, care needs, water, remaining power, and whether staying home is still sensible.

Write the household’s actual locations and contacts beside these tasks. “Get the light from the kitchen drawer” is more useful than “Locate illumination resources.”

Include the plan for a prolonged outage and restoring equipment safely afterward. Link the checklist to the detailed instructions, rather than trying to fit the whole plan onto its first page.

Write instructions for the equipment you rarely use

Generators, power stations, radios, solar charging equipment, and backup lighting may sit unused for months. A brief card can bridge the gap between last year’s practice and tonight’s need.

Write it for the exact item and configuration you own. Use the words printed on its controls. A clear photograph or diagram with matching labels can help. Include where its cables and accessories are stored.

A quick guide supports the manufacturer’s manual; it does not replace safety instructions or make unfamiliar work safe. Keep the relevant manual pages available offline and on paper where practical.

Example: A power-station card might identify the approved charging cable, the output button needed for the intended appliance, the tested load, and where to read the battery percentage. Those details vary by model, so verify them on your own equipment.

A radio card could list how to turn it on, adjust volume, select the agreed channel, and return to a useful preset. Include frequencies as well as memory names so the plan survives a reset.

Put the important limits where they will be seen

Critical precautions belong beside the step they apply to. A warning buried at the back of a binder is easy to miss.

For a portable fuel-powered generator, that includes outdoor placement at least 20 feet from doors, windows, and vents, exhaust directed away from occupied spaces, and working battery-backed carbon monoxide alarms. Record the manufacturer’s shutdown and cooldown instructions before refueling.

Use only approved connections. Never backfeed a home through a wall outlet. Any connection to household wiring needs the appropriate professionally installed arrangement and instructions. Your paper card should identify the safe setup you already have, rather than invite experimentation.

For medication, medical devices, electrical work, and utility shutoffs, obtain instructions from the relevant professional, utility, or manufacturer. Do not invent a generic procedure and assume it applies. Note who is qualified to perform a task and what the alternative is if that person is unavailable.

Our power guide and safety guide help you identify details to include in your plan.

Choose a few references worth printing

• Contacts: Household members, an out-of-area contact, utilities, roadside assistance, and people who have agreed to help.
• Destinations: Agreed meeting places, addresses, routes, and access arrangements. Confirm someone can receive you before relying on their home.
• Food and water: Authoritative food-safety guidance and the relevant water-treatment instructions, including altitude considerations.
• Care: Current instructions for essential personal needs and willing backup caregivers. Include pets and livestock.
• Communication: Useful broadcast stations, agreed channels, listening times, and backup methods.
• Recovery: Where important records are stored and how to contact insurers or other relevant services.

Choose references you understand and have checked. Print enough context to use them correctly: a table stripped of its definitions or exceptions can be misleading. Keep issue dates or review dates visible.

You can use the print buttons on Everyday Ready’s articles and self-assessment to keep useful pages. Select the ones that match your household instead of making a binder so large that nobody opens it.

Keep sensitive records protected

A household instruction folder and a collection of private documents serve different purposes. Let people find the practical plan without exposing everything needed to access your accounts or identity.

Keep sensitive identity, financial, medical, and legal records in appropriately secure storage. Store backup copies separately where practical. Give trusted helpers only the information and access needed for their agreed role.

A vehicle map packet does not need your complete financial history, passwords, or original identity documents. A plainly labeled equipment card does not need an account login printed on its cover.

Paper can be lost, stolen, burned, or soaked. Protect it accordingly and keep secure digital backups too. The CFPB’s disaster preparation guidance links to document and contact checklists for a more complete records plan.

Make it readable, findable, and tested

Use clear headings, numbered steps, readable print, and strong contrast. Avoid relying on color alone. Include glasses, a magnifier, or language support where needed. Page protectors or a resealable pouch can help with damp conditions; they are not a guarantee against fire or flooding.

Keep a copy where the job happens. Tell household members where the main folder lives. Put a date on each card and replace it when equipment, contacts, or arrangements change.

Have someone who did not write the instructions follow them during a safe practice session while you observe. Let them point out the missing cable, unclear label, or assumed step. Revise the card and try it again.

If you are the only person who can make the setup work, the written plan still needs attention.