Prepare to leave home temporarily

If you couldn't stay at home tonight, who could you contact and where might you go? Start with the people and the destination. A bag is only one part of being able to spend time elsewhere.

A friend or relative may be able to help, but check with them first. Think about access, sleeping arrangements and whether the place would work for everyone involved. Local emergency arrangements may include temporary shelter; don't assume a particular building will be open or suitable. Use the council's current information during an incident.

1. Talk with each person about what would make leaving and staying elsewhere difficult. Include communication, mobility and ordinary care, and ask what help they would want.
2. Discuss the journey with anyone who may help. Check that the transport and destination can accommodate the person and their equipment; don't assume a car or another available driver. Raise unresolved assistance needs with care providers and your local emergency-planning contacts in advance.
3. For medical equipment or ongoing care, agree arrangements with the clinical team, care provider or equipment supplier. Keep their instructions and contact details accessible. Packing a spare battery is not proof that a medical device can be used safely away from home.
4. Agree how to make contact if people are apart, and keep essential numbers on paper. Share the relevant arrangements with those who have agreed to help.

Ready Scotland and nidirect describe practical supplies such as a phone charger, torch, clothing, toiletries, drinking water and familiar ready-to-eat food. Use their lists as prompts for your circumstances, not a requirement to carry everything. Think about the things that would be difficult to do without, such as glasses or a mobility aid.

Find a manageable way to keep suitable items together in advance. Some everyday items cannot stay packed: note where they are kept. For prescribed medicines and equipment, follow your agreed care arrangements rather than changing treatment or storage to fit a bag.

Include pets and assistance animals in the conversation. Think about who could look after them, where they could stay and the supplies they normally need. Check the arrangement instead of assuming every destination can accommodate them.

Use the boxes while you read, or tick them on a printed copy. This site doesn't save your ticks.

• The people offering help know what has been agreed, and the possible destination fits access and care needs.
• Important contacts and professional instructions can be found without an internet connection.
• The essentials are reachable and manageable, with a note of anything normally in use.
• You know where to get current local instructions and understand that urgent action comes before belongings.

Ask the person you would contact first whether your proposed arrangement would work. Keep the agreed details with your household plan and revisit them when circumstances change. The planning guide helps keep that record short; the journey guide covers transport alternatives, and the fire guide explains why the building's arrangements matter.

Keep care information with the people who need it rather than circulating a detailed medical history. A plan for being away also reveals personal arrangements: share it deliberately, not as a public announcement of where you will be.