Personal medications:
plan before the power goes out.
A useful emergency kit supports your everyday care. Start with a conversation and a written plan, so a pharmacy closure or outage doesn’t leave you guessing.
General preparedness information, not individualized medical advice. Ask your pharmacist or clinician about your medicines. Don’t skip doses, change treatment, or share prescriptions to build a supply.
1. Make a record you can take with you.
List each medicine’s name, strength, purpose, and prescribed schedule, along with allergies and relevant medical needs. Keep prescription copies with your emergency records. FDA recommends maintaining this information before a disaster. FDA guidance ↗
2. Plan refills with your pharmacist.
Discuss an emergency supply and what to do if your usual pharmacy closes. Refill options depend on the medicine and applicable rules; ask in advance. FDA advises planning ahead when pharmacy access may be disrupted. FDA refill planning ↗
Your medication plan may need to extend beyond your selected kit timeframe. CDC’s emergency-kit guidance for people with disabilities recommends at least a week of prescription medicines, relevant medical supplies, and important health documents. Ask your care team what is appropriate and feasible for you. CDC individual emergency-kit guidance ↗
3. Protect the supply you have.
Follow labeled storage instructions and protect containers from water damage. For refrigerated medicines, arrange an outage plan with your pharmacist and suitable cooling supplies. Storage requirements vary by product. FDA storage guidance ↗
4. Know who to contact after an outage.
If storage temperatures were outside the recommended range, consult the label and contact a pharmacist, clinician, or manufacturer for guidance on usability and replacement. Don’t assume every refrigerated medicine has the same time limit. FDA temperature-sensitive medicine guidance ↗
Before you close the kit
- Write down your pharmacy and care-team phone numbers.
- Choose who will gather your medication kit if you need to leave.
- Keep private records somewhere protected and accessible to the people who need them.
- Include a reminder to review this plan when a prescription changes.
Think of this as a small household planning task: a conversation to have, information to organize, and supplies to review. You don’t need to enter any medication information on this website.
Return to your family kit →