A family communication plan when you live far away

When something happens in the city where you study, your family will hear about it on the news, often before you can call. A simple plan agreed in advance means they know how you will reach them, and you know who to contact if the phones are jammed.

Why plan in advance

• In a big emergency, phone lines are busy. Habitat for Humanity says texts can often get through when calls cannot.
• Heavy call volumes can block people in life-threatening situations, so keep calls for serious emergencies and keep them brief (Habitat for Humanity).
• Your family may be several time zones away and unable to help in person, so the plan is about information and reassurance.
• The personal emergency plan in the Safety When You Live Alone module covers ICE contacts and check-ins; this lesson is about a wider emergency affecting your whole city.

Choose your contacts

• A family contact at home, such as a parent or older sibling, who will spread news to the rest of the family.
• An out-of-area contact: Habitat for Humanity notes long-distance calls can be easier than local ones in a disaster. For students abroad, a relative in another city or country can play this role.
• A local contact: a flatmate, friend or neighbour in your city who knows where you live.
• Your university's emergency or security number.
• Agree that everyone reports to the family contact, so your parents do not have to chase five people.

Agree how you will check in

• Decide the first message you will send after any emergency, for example: 'I am safe, at home, phone battery 40%. Will update at 8pm.'
• Text first, call only if needed (Habitat for Humanity).
• Agree a back-up: if they have not heard from you within an agreed time, they contact your local friend or university, not the emergency services in a panic.
• Keep your family contact updated on where you are and how you are (Habitat for Humanity).
• Use social media or email for non-urgent updates (Habitat for Humanity).

Meeting points and paper back-ups

• Pick a meeting place near your home and one further away in case you cannot get home (Habitat for Humanity; UK Government, Prepare suggests a community hub).
• Make a small contact card for your wallet with your key contacts and meeting place (Habitat for Humanity). Add the local emergency numbers: in the UAE, 999 police, 998 ambulance and 997 Civil Defence (u.ae).
• Write key numbers on paper and keep them where you can find them in a power cut (UK Government, Prepare).
• The UK Government offers a household emergency plan template to record everything in one document (UK Government, Prepare).

Keep it alive

• Share the plan with your family and your local contact, and save it on your phone and on paper.
• Swap numbers with a neighbour, and consider joining your building's messaging group for local updates (UK Government, Prepare).
• Update it whenever you move, change number or start a new term.
• Test it once: send the agreed 'I am safe' message and check everyone knows what it means.