For the first time in my life, I live completely alone: no parents, no partner, no progeny. It’s exciting most of the time. I’ve decorated the way I want, do laundry without worrying someone else is using the machines, and eat Cinnamon Life cereal for dinner five nights a week if I want! But all this living on the edge – and working for a public health preparedness and response organization – means I need to be even more prepared for a disaster that could affect my health.

I started to think about all the things I needed to do to prepare for an emergency and who I needed to include in my plan.

• Choose an Emergency Buddy: You know that great friend who has always got your back? Or that group of friends? Ask that person (or those people) to be your emergency buddy. Agree that you will plan together and be there for each other when disaster strikes. Ideally, your emergency buddy should be local – someone who is close enough to help out in a disaster.


• Make and keep an emergency kit and plan: Many people make a kit and plan but then never go back to make sure food, water, and medications haven’t expired or that clothes and other supplies still fit and work. Challenge your Emergency Buddy to make a kit by a certain date. Then schedule girls’ or guys’ nights in to watch a movie, eat bad food, and go through each other’s kits and develop or review your plans together to make sure they’re up to date.


• Know how to keep in touch: My closest family lives eight hours away by car. My emergency buddies are in the same situation. We’ve designated each other as our local emergency contacts and made sure we have contact information for each other’s families in case we need to reach out to them in an emergency. My Emergency Buddy knows how to reach my parents and sister, and I know how to get in touch with their family.


• Should I Stay or Should I Go? There are many questions that you’ll need to answer in an emergency, but this is one of the big ones that you should plan to address. Go through different scenarios with your Emergency Buddy to determine if you’ll need to evacuate or shelter in place, and try to do this together when the need arises. Not only will you have company on the road or during a prolonged indoor experience, there’s safety in numbers. Being together means you can help each other out when the unexpected happens.


• Everyday Disasters: My Emergency Buddies and I all have jobs where travel is frequent and sometimes very last minute. We all also have pets. It’s nice knowing if I get called away for work at the last minute, that I can count on one of them to check in on my cat to make sure he’s fed and loved and to bring in the mail so I don’t send signals that I’m not at home for an extended period of time.


• Be a Good Neighbor: You don’t have to be single to need to rely on an Emergency Buddy. Anyone can put these tips into action by talking to their friends and neighbors about their emergency kits and plans. Checking on your neighbors also builds relationships that help neighborhoods bounce back after disasters quicker and stronger.

Disasters can strike at any time. Use these six steps to keep yourself – and your Emergency Buddy – safe and healthy when disaster strikes.