Preparedness self-assessment
A preparedness self-assessment is the fastest way to find out where your household is genuinely exposed — not where you think you're exposed. Most households score unevenly: strong on water and food, blank on community and mobility. The scorecard below surfaces those gaps in about 10 minutes. Your three lowest scores tell you where to spend the next 90 days.
A generic checklist ("do you have emergency supplies?") cannot do this. It flattens 12 distinct capability areas into one binary. This rubric scores each Foundation independently, so a household with a year of food and no first-aid training sees that plainly — and knows which starting page to read first.
Plan for 10 minutes the first time. Annual re-checks take closer to five minutes once you know your gaps.
Action block
Do this first: Score yourself in the 12-Foundation rubric below and circle your three lowest scores. (10 minutes) Time required: Active: 10 minutes first pass; 5 minutes annual re-check Cost range: — Skill level: Beginner Tools and supplies: Paper and pencil, or any note-taking method Safety warnings: See Educational use only below — this scorecard routes to life-safety domains; individual sections link to procedures, not replace them.
Educational use only
This scorecard is a planning and routing tool. Several Foundations it touches — Medical, Water, Security — involve procedures where errors carry serious consequences. When you follow the starter-page links, read those pages as complete procedures, not as summary checklists. This tool does not substitute for professional training, professional medical advice, or local regulatory guidance.
How to use this scorecard
Score each Foundation on a 1–5 scale. Use the anchor descriptions below — don't interpolate between them.
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1 | No plan, no dedicated supplies, no relevant skill |
| 2 | Vague awareness; some discussion but no committed action |
| 3 | Basic written plan; 72 hours (3 days) of supplies; no drill |
| 4 | Solid plan; 2-week supply depth; at least one practice drill or real-event test |
| 5 | Redundant systems; 30+ days of supplies; plan tested under real or simulated conditions |
Score honestly. Research on self-reported preparedness (FEMA National Household Surveys, 2022–2024) consistently finds that people rate themselves approximately one point higher than their demonstrated capability. If you're unsure whether you're a 3 or a 4, you're a 3. Round down when uncertain. If your situation falls between two anchors — between Score 1 and Score 3, assign Score 2; between Score 3 and Score 5, assign Score 4.
Don't average your scores. A household averaging 3.5 across 12 Foundations sounds solid. A household with a 5 in Water and a 1 in Medical is one bleeding emergency from a bad outcome. Your preparedness is defined by your lowest score, not your mean score. The point of this exercise is to find the floor.
Retake annually, after any major life change (new household member, new home, new medical condition), and after every drill or real event. Scores change — equipment expires, skills atrophy, and circumstances shift. A score from three years ago reflects a household that no longer exists.
The 12-Foundation rubric
Work through each Foundation in order. Answer the diagnostic questions honestly, then assign your score using the Score 1 / Score 3 / Score 5 anchors. Write the score next to the Foundation name.
Foundation 1 — Water
Water failure is the fastest path to a serious outcome. Municipal water treatment depends on electricity, chemical supply chains, and intact pipes — all three fail in major disasters.
Diagnostic questions: - Do you have at least 1 gallon (3.8 liters) per person per day stored for a minimum of two weeks? - Do you have a primary purification method (filter or boiling) plus at least one backup method (chemical treatment tablets)? - Do you know the location of at least one natural water source within a realistic walking distance of your home? - Do you rotate stored water and inspect containers at least annually?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: You have no dedicated water storage and no purification equipment. - Score 3 if: You have 72 hours of storage per household member and at least one purification method. - Score 5 if: You have two weeks or more of storage, two independent purification methods, and you have identified and visited a local backup source on foot.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Emergency water storage
Foundation 2 — Food
Food is more forgiving than water — most adults can manage 72 hours without eating. But two weeks into a sustained event, caloric shortfalls compound every other problem.
Diagnostic questions: - Do you have a minimum of two weeks of shelf-stable food for every household member, including enough to cover any special dietary needs (infant formula, diabetic diet, religious restrictions)? - Do you know the approximate calorie count of what you have stored? - Do you rotate your pantry — using oldest stock first and replacing it, rather than maintaining a static emergency pile? - Can you cook your stored food without grid power?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: Your pantry could not sustain the household for more than 3 days without a grocery run. - Score 3 if: You have 72 hours to one week of food, some rotation practice, and know roughly what you have. - Score 5 if: You have one month or more of food with complete caloric math, reliable off-grid cooking capacity, and a rotation system you follow actively.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Pantry depth and rotation
Foundation 3 — Medical
The FEMA National Household Survey (2024) found that fewer than one in three households felt confident in their ability to manage a medical emergency. Confidence and capability are different things — this section scores capability.
Diagnostic questions: - Can every adult in the household perform CPR? (Not "have they watched a video" — can they perform it under stress?) - Do you have the materials to control serious bleeding: gloves, gauze or hemostatic bandages, and a tourniquet? - Does every household member who takes a prescription medication have a minimum 7-day emergency supply on hand? - Do you have a written first-aid plan that covers the most likely emergencies for your household (pediatric, geriatric, chronic condition)?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: No CPR training, no bleeding control supplies, no prescription buffer. - Score 3 if: At least one adult has current CPR certification, you have basic first-aid supplies, and prescription continuity is partially addressed. - Score 5 if: All adults CPR-certified, full bleeding control kit with tourniquet, all prescription medications covered for at least 30 days, written medical plan reviewed in the last 12 months.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Bleeding control
Foundation 4 — Shelter
Your home is probably your best shelter — until it isn't. Heat loss, structural damage, flooding, and loss of utilities each turn an asset into a liability.
Diagnostic questions: - If your central heating or cooling failed today, do you have an independent heat source (wood stove, propane heater, or sustained passive warmth strategy) that could maintain a survivable indoor temperature? - Could your household shelter comfortably in a single room if structural damage reduced usable space? - Do you have blankets, sleeping bags, or layering systems adequate to the coldest likely indoor temperature? - Have you identified the shelter vulnerabilities specific to your home (flood zone, tornado exposure, wildfire interface)?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: Your household's comfort and survival are entirely dependent on grid-connected heating or cooling, with no backup. - Score 3 if: You have one backup heat source and sleeping gear appropriate for cold conditions. - Score 5 if: You have an independent heat source requiring no grid power, thermal redundancy (adequate clothing and bedding), and you have assessed your home's specific vulnerabilities by hazard type.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Keeping warm without central heat
Foundation 5 — Energy
Grid-down events now average over 7 hours per affected customer per year in the US (US Energy Information Administration, 2022 data). Multi-day outages are less common but disproportionately consequential.
Diagnostic questions: - Do you have a lighting solution that does not depend on grid power (battery lanterns, solar-charged lights)? - If anyone in the household depends on an electric medical device (CPAP, oxygen concentrator, insulin requiring refrigeration), do you have a plan for that device during a multi-day outage? - Do you have a way to charge a phone or radio for communication purposes? - Do you understand how to safely operate any generator or alternative power source you own?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: A power outage lasting longer than your battery-backup window would leave you without lighting, communication, or medical device support. - Score 3 if: You have independent lighting, a method to charge communication devices, and a plan (even if imperfect) for any medical devices. - Score 5 if: You have solar charging or battery backup covering lighting, communication, and critical medical devices; you have operated your backup power system under realistic conditions.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Off-grid solar basics
Foundation 6 — Security
Security preparedness is not primarily about weapons. It is about reducing exposure, knowing who is around you, and having a plan before the situation forces improvisation.
Diagnostic questions: - Are your primary entry points (doors, ground-floor windows) secured with hardware that resists forced entry beyond the factory default? - Do you have a designated safe room or sheltering point for your household? - Have you documented your important documents — insurance policies, IDs, financial records — in a form that survives a house fire or evacuation? - Does your household practice basic situational awareness (knowing your neighbors, noticing what's normal vs. abnormal on your street)?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: Your home has not been security-assessed, you have no safe room plan, and critical documents are not backed up. - Score 3 if: Entry points have improved hardware, you have identified a sheltering point, and documents are photographed or digitally backed up. - Score 5 if: All of the above, plus the household has practiced the safe room and evacuation plans, and you have a relationship with immediate neighbors sufficient to notice anomalies.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Safe room setup
Foundation 7 — Community
Every major disaster after-action study — Katrina, Sandy, Maria, Harvey, Helene — reaches the same finding: households with prior neighbor relationships recovered faster and with less harm than isolated households at the same income and supply level. A single household hits a hard ceiling on capability regardless of supply depth.
Diagnostic questions: - Do you know your five nearest neighbors by first name? - Does your household have a written communication plan — a designated out-of-area contact, and meeting points — that every member knows? - Have you had at least one explicit conversation with a neighbor about mutual assistance? - Do you have at least one non-cellular communication method (radio, predetermined meeting schedule)?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: You do not know your nearest neighbors and have no communication plan. - Score 3 if: You know nearby neighbors, your household has a communication plan, and you have radio capability or another non-cellular backup. - Score 5 if: You have a working relationship with multiple neighboring households, a tested communication plan, and at least one mutual-aid agreement (explicit or informal) with nearby neighbors.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Family communication plan
Foundation 8 — Threats
Preparedness that ignores your actual threat environment over-prepares for some scenarios and ignores the three most likely ones. A coastal household spending resources on earthquake supplies instead of hurricane prep is not more prepared — it's differently vulnerable.
Diagnostic questions: - Can you name the three hazards most statistically likely to affect your specific location (not "disasters in general")? - Do you know your home's flood zone designation? - Have you looked up your area's historical hazard record (county emergency management agency, FEMA flood maps)? - Do you have plans specific to each of your top three hazards — not just a general "emergency kit"?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: You have not assessed which hazards are most likely in your area. - Score 3 if: You can name your top three regional hazards and have general preparations that address them. - Score 5 if: You have hazard-specific plans for your three most likely threats, reviewed in the last 12 months, with household members who know their role in each scenario.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Household threat assessment
Foundation 9 — Skills
Gear without skills is an expensive storage problem. Every supply you own has a dependency — the water filter only works if someone knows how to backflush it; the first-aid kit only helps if someone knows how to use what's in it; the camp stove only feeds your family if someone can light it reliably.
Diagnostic questions: - Can you reliably start a fire using at least two different methods, without a lighter? - Can you navigate using a paper map and compass — not phone GPS? - Can you prepare a meal from scratch using your stored food, without grid power? - Can you treat a wound, set an improvised splint, or recognize signs of infection?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: You cannot demonstrate any of the above skills without instruction. - Score 3 if: You can perform two or three of the above reliably, and have basic hands-on training in first aid. - Score 5 if: You can demonstrate all of the above under realistic conditions, and practice at least one practical skill drill per quarter.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Fire starting
Foundation 10 — Gear
Gear is the physical infrastructure that enables everything else. A gap here means missing something when you need it — not during a shopping trip, during an event.
Diagnostic questions: - Do you have a get-home bag (a pack you can carry that supports 24 hours of independent travel if you can't reach your vehicle)? - Does your household have a basic tool set adequate for common repairs — without needing to borrow from a neighbor? - Do you have redundancy in critical items: two light sources, two fire-starting methods, two water containers? - Have you tested your gear recently enough to know it works? (Batteries checked, filters not expired, fuel cans not corroded?)
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: You have not assembled a get-home bag, your tools are inadequate for basic repairs, and you have no gear redundancy. - Score 3 if: You have a functional get-home bag, adequate basic tools, and at least one redundant critical item per category. - Score 5 if: All of the above, plus gear has been tested within the last 12 months, items have been rotated before expiration, and every household member knows where critical gear lives and how to use it.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Get-home bag (also called a 24-hour bag or everyday carry kit)
Foundation 11 — Mobility
Most disasters end in place — you shelter where you are. But the disasters that don't are often the ones where failure to move quickly causes the most harm. Wildfire, flood, and chemical incidents require rapid evacuation. This Foundation scores your readiness to move when you have to.
Diagnostic questions: - Do you have at least two evacuation routes mapped from your home — one of which does not use the primary road? - Is your vehicle maintained and regularly fueled to at least half a tank? - Do you have a go-bag (a pre-packed bag for each household member supporting 72 hours of independent living away from home)? - Have you identified where you would go — a specific destination, not "we'll figure it out" — if your home became uninhabitable?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: You have no evacuation plan, no designated destination, and your vehicle is not prepared for emergency departure. - Score 3 if: You have two evacuation routes identified, your vehicle is regularly maintained, and you have or could quickly assemble 72-hour go-bags. - Score 5 if: All of the above, plus you have a tested evacuation plan with specific destinations, go-bags for every household member including pets, and your vehicle has been driven the evacuation route at least once.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: Bug-out planning
Foundation 12 — Mindset
Gear, food, and skills are tools. The person using them is the system. Stress impairs decision-making, sleep deprivation impairs judgment, and isolation corrodes morale faster than most people expect. Mindset preparedness is not an attitude adjustment — it is practice-based resilience built before you need it.
Diagnostic questions: - Have you thought through what a realistic 2-week household disruption would actually feel like, day by day — including boredom, conflict, and the fatigue of sustained manual work? - Has your household had at least one deliberate conversation about decision-making under pressure: who has authority to make what calls, and what the process is when members disagree? - Do you have any practice with stress-regulation techniques — breath work, physical exertion as a stress valve, routine maintenance under discomfort? - Have you introduced any stress training into your preparedness practice (simulations, timed drills, scenarios that introduce real friction)?
Score anchors: - Score 1 if: You have not thought through the psychological dimension of a sustained disruption. - Score 3 if: Your household has had at least one deliberate conversation about decision-making under stress, and you have some experience with discomfort through outdoor or physical practice. - Score 5 if: You have run at least one realistic simulation, your household has agreed decision-making protocols, and individual members have practiced stress-regulation techniques under realistic pressure.
Start here if you scored 2 or below: OODA loop and crisis decision-making
Interpreting your results
Write your 12 scores in a list. You now have a picture of your household's actual preparedness profile.
The weakest-3 rule
Focus exclusively on your three lowest-scoring Foundations for the next 90 days. Do not try to improve all 12 simultaneously — that is how households end up with shallow improvements across the board and no meaningful depth anywhere. Ninety days is long enough to move a Foundation from a 1 or 2 to a solid 3. Open the starter page linked under each of your weak Foundations and work through it before the next month ends.
The any-1 rule
If any Foundation scored 1, start there — regardless of what your other scores look like. A 1 is a gap with no buffer. A household with a 5 in Food and a 1 in Medical has excellent calorie planning and no ability to stop a bleeding wound. One incident in the 1-category can end the relevance of every other score.
If multiple Foundations scored 1, work them in this order: Medical, Water, Energy first — these are the gaps that become life-threatening fastest, on the order of hours to days. Then Food, Shelter, and Security as the second wave. Skills, Gear, Community, Threats, Mobility, and Mindset come after the life-safety floor is stable.
The above-3 plateau
Getting from 1 to 3 is mostly a supply and information problem: buy the right things, read the right pages, make the right plans. Getting from 3 to 4 or 4 to 5 is a practice and testing problem. It requires drills, skill repetition, and real verification that your plans work. Most households should establish 3+ across all 12 Foundations first, then layer depth. Chasing a 5 in one Foundation while holding a 1 in another is the wrong priority order.
Common patterns
Supplies-heavy, skills-light: High scores in Water, Food, and Gear; low scores in Skills and Mindset. You own the tools but haven't practiced using them. A power outage drill using only stored food and gear, cooked without grid power, is the right next step.
Indoor-strong, mobile-weak: High scores in Shelter and Security; low scores in Mobility and Community. Your home is well-defended but you have no plan for the scenario where you have to leave it. This is a serious asymmetry — the events that force evacuation (wildfire, flood, chemical incident) are exactly the events where mobile-weak households struggle most.
Knowledge-heavy, supplies-light: High scores in Threats and Mindset; low scores in Water, Food, and Gear. You understand the risk environment but haven't converted that knowledge into material readiness. Pick one Foundation per month and build the physical inventory.
Solo scorer: You took this assessment alone, but your household has dependents. Retake it thinking specifically about the household member with the highest needs — infant, elder, medically dependent person. That member's requirements set your floor, not yours.
When to retake
- Annually, at minimum — a fixed calendar date works best (the first day of a new year, a birthday, an anniversary)
- After any major life change: new household member, relocation, new medical condition, retirement, new job with travel requirements
- After any drill or real event — the score should rise; if it didn't, the drill revealed something true about your actual capability
Sample scorecards from real households
These are composites based on common household types, not specific individuals. They show how the rubric reads in practice.
Apartment renter, urban, single adult
| Foundation | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 2 | One case of bottled water; no purification method |
| Food | 3 | One week of pantry food; no off-grid cooking |
| Medical | 2 | Basic first-aid kit; no CPR certification |
| Shelter | 2 | No independent heat source; building-dependent |
| Energy | 3 | Battery lantern; phone power bank |
| Security | 3 | Standard apartment locks; documented IDs |
| Community | 1 | Does not know neighbors by name |
| Threats | 2 | Knows flood zone; no specific plan |
| Skills | 2 | No fire-starting or navigation practice |
| Gear | 3 | Basic get-home bag assembled |
| Mobility | 3 | Two routes mapped; no dedicated vehicle |
| Mindset | 3 | Has thought through realistic scenarios |
Weakest 3: Community (1), Water (2), Medical (2) Recommended starter pages: Comms plan, Water storage, Bleeding control
Suburban family of four, two adults, two school-age children, dog
| Foundation | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 4 | Two weeks stored; filter + tablets |
| Food | 4 | Three weeks of pantry; camp stove with propane |
| Medical | 2 | First-aid kit present; no CPR training; 3-day Rx supply only |
| Shelter | 4 | Propane space heater; sleeping bags rated to 20°F (-7°C) |
| Energy | 3 | Generator; doesn't know safe operating procedure |
| Security | 3 | Deadbolts installed; no safe room |
| Community | 3 | Knows three neighbors; informal arrangement only |
| Threats | 4 | Hazard plan for tornado and winter storm |
| Skills | 2 | Adults cannot start fire without lighter |
| Gear | 4 | Go-bags for all four family members |
| Mobility | 3 | Routes mapped; no destination confirmed |
| Mindset | 3 | One family conversation; no drills |
Weakest 3: Medical (2), Skills (2), Energy (3 — generator safety gap) Recommended starter pages: Bleeding control, Fire starting, Off-grid solar for power fundamentals
Rural homestead, two adults, 5 acres (2 ha)
| Foundation | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 5 | Private well; gravity-fed backup cistern; filter + UV |
| Food | 4 | Two months of stored + garden; no formal caloric math |
| Medical | 3 | CPR-certified; first-aid kit; 7-day Rx buffer only |
| Shelter | 5 | Wood stove; generator; adequate clothing and bedding |
| Energy | 4 | 2 kW solar system; no medical device dependency |
| Security | 4 | Hardened entry; practiced safe room; known neighbors |
| Community | 2 | Knows adjacent properties; no formal arrangement |
| Threats | 4 | Hazard-specific plans for wildfire and ice storm |
| Skills | 5 | Both adults: fire, navigation, food preservation, first aid |
| Gear | 4 | Full kit; tested within 18 months |
| Mobility | 3 | Two vehicles; no evacuation route drilled |
| Mindset | 4 | Two drills in past year; decision protocols documented |
Weakest 3: Community (2), Medical (3 — Rx gap), Mobility (3 — untested routes) Recommended starter pages: Mutual aid, Medical — prescription continuity, Bug-out planning
Apartment, elder adult with CPAP and hypertension medication
| Foundation | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 2 | No dedicated storage; building water dependent |
| Food | 3 | One week of pantry; no special diet planning |
| Medical | 2 | Prescription supply: 4 days; no CPR certification |
| Shelter | 2 | No independent heat; building climate-dependent |
| Energy | 1 | CPAP requires power; no backup plan |
| Security | 3 | Standard locks; documents backed up |
| Community | 2 | Knows one neighbor casually |
| Threats | 3 | Aware of local hazards; no plan specific to mobility limitations |
| Skills | 2 | Limited by physical capacity; skills gap |
| Gear | 2 | No go-bag; mobility aids only |
| Mobility | 2 | No vehicle; transit-dependent; no evacuation plan |
| Mindset | 4 | Realistic about limitations; has thought through scenarios |
Weakest 3: Energy (1), Medical (2), Water (2) Recommended starter pages: Off-grid power for medical devices, Prescription continuity, Water storage — apartment scale
The elder household with medical device dependency illustrates the any-1 rule clearly: the Energy score of 1 means any extended power outage is an immediate medical emergency. The strong Mindset score is genuinely useful — this person will respond well under pressure — but it doesn't keep a CPAP running.
Failure modes
Even a well-designed self-assessment can produce misleading results. These four patterns show up consistently.
Inflation drift
Recognition: Scores climb year-over-year, but nothing changed. The household bought the same amount of food, ran no drills, let CPR certifications expire, and still scored higher than last year.
Remediation: Pair every score of 4 or 5 with an evidence note: last drill date, last test of stored supplies, last certification renewal. A score without evidence is a guess. If you cannot name the evidence, downgrade the score until you can.
Foundation-isolation thinking
Recognition: Foundations are scored in isolation without considering how they interact. The Security score of 4 assumes a home defense scenario — but doesn't account for the Community score of 1 that means no one will know something is wrong for 48 hours.
Remediation: Every 90 days, pick two adjacent Foundations and walk through a scenario that requires both simultaneously. Water + Medical: your stored water has a biological contamination and a household member is dehydrated and symptomatic. Mobility + Community: you must evacuate and need to notify vulnerable neighbors. Scenarios force cross-Foundation thinking.
Tool-rich, drill-poor
Recognition: High Gear scores paired with low Skills scores. Equipment inventories are complete; nobody has practiced using them under realistic conditions.
Remediation: Schedule one skill drill per quarter using only stored gear — no shopping, no new purchases until the drill reveals what's actually missing. Common findings: stored food requires a can opener that isn't in the kit, the camp stove uses a fuel type not in storage, the water filter is clogged and nobody knows how to backflush it.
Family-of-one assessment
Recognition: The assessment was completed by one adult thinking about their own capability. The household includes a toddler, a school-age child with a nut allergy, and a parent in their 70s who takes blood thinners. The scores reflect the most capable person, not the household's actual floor.
Remediation: Retake the assessment with each household member's specific needs in mind. For every Foundation, ask: "What does this Foundation require for [the most dependent member]?" The answer to that question is your real score for that Foundation. A 4 in Medical for a healthy adult is a 1 in Medical for a household where someone takes warfarin (blood thinner) and has a 4-day prescription supply.
Field note
The point isn't the score; it's the conversation it forces. Most households discover their actual weakest Foundation when they go through the rubric out loud together — not when one person reads it silently. The question "do you know where the tourniquets are?" produces a different answer when asked with the full household present than when assumed. Score with your household.
Next steps after scoring
Once you have identified your weakest three Foundations:
- Open the starter page for Foundation #1 (lowest score). Read it fully. Make one concrete purchase or scheduling decision before closing the tab.
- Set a 30-day milestone for that Foundation — specific and verifiable ("CPR course booked" not "improve medical").
- Repeat for Foundations #2 and #3, each in the following 30-day window.
- At day 90, retake just the three weakest sections of this scorecard to verify progress. The score should rise. If it didn't, the retake reveals why.
- Set a calendar reminder now for your annual full retake — the first day of a new year, a birthday, or any fixed date works.
If your weakest areas are in Community or Mindset, the Family Emergency Playbook is designed for households working on the people and decision-making dimensions of preparedness. If multiple Foundations scored 2 or below, the First 30 Days guide provides a structured 30-day framework for building across all of them simultaneously. If your Medical, Water, or Energy Foundations scored 1, When Help Isn't Coming covers the life-safety procedures you need before anything else.
The goal is not a perfect score. The goal is a household that doesn't have any zeros.
Sources and next steps
Last reviewed: 2026-05-18
Source hierarchy:
- FEMA Ready.gov — Plan, Kit, and Preparedness Research (Tier 1, federal emergency management)
- FEMA National Household Survey 2024 (Tier 1, federal preparedness research)
- CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response (Tier 1, federal public health)
- US EIA Electric Power Annual — Reliability Data (Tier 1, federal energy statistics)
Legal/regional caveats: Preparedness requirements vary by jurisdiction and household composition. This scorecard provides general US household guidance. Medical device backup requirements may be subject to state Medicaid or ADA accommodations for qualifying individuals — contact your state health department or device supplier for program-specific emergency planning resources.
Safety stakes: standard guidance.
Next 3 links:
- → First 30 Days — structured 30-day cross-Foundation build plan if multiple areas scored below 3
- → When Help Isn't Coming — life-safety procedures for Medical, Water, and field emergencies — start here if Medical scored 1 or 2
- → Community hub — most underscored Foundation in FEMA survey data; the mutual-aid network is the highest-leverage gap most households can close in 30 days