Emergency Binder Checklist: What to Put in Yours

An emergency binder, sometimes called an ICE (in case of emergency) binder or a life binder, holds what someone would need if you were suddenly in hospital, away or unable to speak for yourself: who to call, your medical details, where your documents are, and which bills must keep being paid. It is the everyday cousin of an end-of-life organizer, and one binder can do both jobs.

Start with one page

If you do nothing else, fill in a single emergency sheet and put it at the front: two people to call first, your doctor, your allergies, where your medication list is, who can make health decisions for you, where your will is, and who takes the pets. That is the page someone reaches for in the first hour.

What to put in an emergency binder

• Contacts: family, a neighbor with a spare key, your doctor and pharmacy, your employer, and your attorney, executor or accountant.
• Medical details: conditions, medications and doses, allergies, copies of insurance cards, and where your advance directive and health care power of attorney are kept.
• Identity documents: copies of your driver's license, passport, and birth and marriage certificates, with a note of where the originals are.
• Money: your banks and cards (the institution and the last four digits only), which bills are on autopay, and who can act for you under a financial power of attorney.
• Insurance: home or renters, car, health and life policies, with each insurer's phone number and policy number.
• Home: where the water and power shut-offs are, the alarm company, who has keys, and who to call for repairs.
• Pets and dependents: the vet, food and medications, routines, and who has agreed to look after them.
• Digital life: where your password manager's emergency instructions are kept, and which accounts have a legacy contact set up. See what happens to your online accounts when you die.

For a fire, flood or evacuation

Government preparedness guides advise keeping copies of key documents with your emergency supplies, so you can prove who you are and start insurance claims after a disaster. In the US, the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK), from FEMA and the nonprofit Operation HOPE, is a free checklist for exactly this. Canada, the UK and Australia give the same advice: Canada's Get Prepared guide says to keep copies of important documents in your emergency kit, the UK government's Be Ready campaign says to have printed copies of documents such as passports and insurance details, and the Australian Red Cross RediPlan says to prepare your important documents. Keep a copy that travels: a waterproof folder you can grab, or an encrypted copy on a drive or in secure cloud storage.

What never to write down

Do not record full passwords, PINs, full Social Security numbers or cryptocurrency recovery phrases. Record where they are kept instead, for example: "in my password manager; my daughter is the emergency-access contact." A binder that is easy for your family to find is also easy for a stranger to read.

Where to keep it and who to tell

Somewhere your family can reach quickly, such as a fire-resistant box at home, and tell at least two people where it is. Review it once a year, and after any move, new doctor, new account or change in the family. When you are ready to go further, the same binder can hold everything your family would need after a death: see what to put in a death binder.

Sources

• Ready.gov: Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK)
• Government of Canada: Get Prepared, emergency kits
• UK Government: Be Ready for emergencies
• Australian Red Cross: Prepare (RediPlan)

Last reviewed 2026-10-31. General information, not legal, tax, financial or medical advice.