Disability and medical needs
If someone in the house has a disability or a medical need
The one group for whom preparedness is not optional, and the one group most emergency advice ignores.
Your plan is not about food. It is about power, access and medicine, and it should be written down and shared.
Tell the electricity network, in writing
Powered wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, feeding pumps, dialysis, hoists, stairlifts and fridge-kept medicines all qualify for priority reconnection or advance notice of planned outages, everywhere we cover. Ask for confirmation in writing and keep it.
Know your backup runtime
For every piece of equipment, write down how long it runs without mains and what the manufacturer says to do. Do this on a Tuesday afternoon, not at midnight.
Plan for the lift not working
If you use a wheelchair above the ground floor, an evacuation plan that assumes a lift is not a plan. Ask the building manager for a personal emergency evacuation plan. In many places they are legally obliged to consider one.
Communication needs are a supply
A charged communication device, a paper backup of key phrases or symbols, spare hearing aid batteries. Emergency messaging is overwhelmingly audio, and that fails a lot of people.
Give a copy to someone outside the house
A carer, a relative, a neighbour. A plan only one person knows is a single point of failure.