In a disaster the phones fail, everyone is somewhere different and nobody is in a state to think. A plan is the work you do today so that you do not have to think then. It takes half an hour.
Fillable template 30 minutes to complete Print-ready CC BY-NC 4.0
How to use this. Read the sections below and make your decisions, then print the blank form at the end with Ctrl/Cmd + P and fill it in by hand. The menu and footer are left out of the printout and the form starts on its own sheet. One copy for the fridge, one for each bag.
Why
In the seconds after a shock the nervous system switches to survival: the visual field narrows, hearing distorts, the sense of time changes and complex thinking becomes genuinely difficult. That is the worst possible moment to be working out where to meet.
A plan therefore does not need to be long. A good family plan fits on one page, everyone knows a few of its lines by heart, and it is rehearsed twice a year. A plan that has never been rehearsed is not a plan.
One note for Cyprus: the problem households here face most often is not a building collapsing but communication failing while a family spends hours unable to reach one another. Most of the points below speak directly to that.
Decisions
Decision 1
Near point: just outside the home, away from the building, clear of power lines and high walls — the park on the corner, a school yard. This is where you gather in a fire or a night evacuation.
Far point: a second place you can reach on foot if the neighbourhood cannot be entered. Pick somewhere everyone can name without directions.
Decision 2
Local networks congest first; a distant number is often easier to reach. Choose a relative in Türkiye or further abroad. The rule is simple: everyone messages them first, and they pass word on. That way five people do not call each other five times.
Decision 3
Voice calls put the heaviest load on the network. In the first hours send a text message: "I'm OK, at {location}." Spend the battery on one message, not on calls. Toggling flight mode on and off can sometimes force a reconnection.
Decision 4
Who collects the child from school, who is responsible at the nursery, who goes to a housebound grandparent? Leave this line blank and two people go to the same place while one person is collected by nobody. Learn the school's release policy and register a backup adult with them.
Decision 5
Names and doses of regular medication, allergies, blood groups, any medical device and its spare battery. Write it so that a health worker who has never met you can use it. Keep photographs of prescriptions on your phone as well.
Decision 6
At least two adults in the home should know where the valves are, and any tool needed should hang beside them. Note the shut-off order on the form. If you use gas cylinders, they must be secured.
Rehearsal
Writing the plan is half the work. The other half is your body remembering what to do. Use the clock changes as your reminder: twice a year, fifteen minutes is enough.
If someone in the household is disabled, housebound, or deaf or blind, run the rehearsal with them. Whether the evacuation route can be taken in a wheelchair is only settled by trying it.
Form
Household: Date completed:
Name · year of birth · phone
Near point (just outside the home)
Far point (if the area is closed)
How to get there — on foot
Name · relationship
Phone (with country code)
Backup number
Rule: everyone sends this person one message first; word spreads from there.
School / nursery — child, place, responsible adult
Backup adult (registered with the school)
Relative needing care — who goes
Condition · medication · dose
Allergies
Blood groups
Medical device · spare battery · family doctor
Gas valve / cylinder — location
Water valve — location
Electricity fuse box — location
Where the bags are kept · spare key
Pet — carrier, food, who is responsible
Vehicle — fuel rule, where parked
Where document copies are (ID, deeds, policy)
Twice a year, at the clock changes. Write the date and note what did not work.
Next step
With the plan written, the kit is the next job — with separate sections for babies, older people and disabled household members.
Open the checklistRelated guide
Securing furniture, safety film, clearing escape routes — including solutions that leave no damage for renters.
Open the guideReferences
The plan headings and the rehearsal guidance are adapted from the preparedness guides below. The Cyprus-specific adaptations and the form layout are TAK-DER's own.
Links go to the publisher; last accessed 11 September 2026. If you spot an error in a citation, tell us and we will correct it.
