Chapter 20. Preparing When You Live Alone
Living alone can offer independence, privacy, and flexibility, but it also requires a more deliberate emergency plan. During a wildfire, earthquake, extended power outage, medical emergency, severe storm, or evacuation, there may be no one else at home to notice an alert, help gather essential items, arrange transportation, care for pets, or confirm that the resident reached safety.
People who live alone in Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville, Sunol, and surrounding Tri-Valley and Bay Area communities should build a dependable support network before an emergency occurs. The objective is not to give up independence. It is to ensure that other people understand the resident’s plan and will recognize when assistance may be needed.
Create a Personal Communication Plan
Identify how you will receive emergency alerts and communicate if telephone service becomes congested or unavailable. Enroll in applicable city, county, and community emergency-notification systems. Enable emergency alerts on your mobile phone and consider additional notification methods if you might not hear an alert while sleeping or working.
Prepare a printed contact list that includes:
- Nearby relatives, friends, and trusted neighbors
- An out-of-area contact
- Healthcare professionals and pharmacies
- Your employer, building manager, or homeowners association
- Veterinarian and pet-care contacts
- Transportation providers
- Local utility emergency numbers
Keep copies in your emergency kit, go-bag, wallet, and vehicle. Do not rely entirely on a mobile phone because it may be lost, damaged, discharged, or unable to connect.
Choose an out-of-area contact who can receive updates and relay information. Long-distance communication may sometimes work when local networks are congested. Ready.gov recommends creating a household communication plan and practicing how family members and contacts will reconnect after an emergency. Review its emergency communication planning guidance.
Select Check-In Partners
Choose at least two dependable people who understand your emergency plan. Ideally, one should live nearby and another should live outside the immediate area. A nearby contact may be able to knock on the door, provide transportation, check on a pet, or notify responders. An out-of-area contact may remain reachable when local residents are affected by the same incident.
Agree on specific check-in expectations. For example:
- Who will contact whom first?
- Will you communicate by telephone, text message, or messaging application?
- When should someone become concerned?
- Who should be called if you do not respond?
- Does anyone have permission to enter your home?
- Where will you go after evacuating?
- How will you confirm that you arrived safely?
Avoid vague arrangements such as, “Check on me if something happens.” A clearer plan might be: “If an evacuation warning is issued, I will text both contacts. After leaving, I will send my destination and arrival time. If neither contact hears from me within an agreed period, the nearby contact will try to reach me and follow our emergency plan.”
Make Transportation Arrangements
A person living alone may be unable to drive because of a medical condition, injury, vehicle problem, blocked road, or personal preference. Identify several transportation possibilities before an evacuation.
Options may include:
- A trusted neighbor
- A nearby friend or relative
- A caregiver or home-health worker
- Public or accessible transportation
- A taxi or rideshare service
- Transportation resources identified by local emergency agencies
Do not assume that public transportation, paratransit, taxis, or rideshare services will be operating during a regional emergency. If you need wheelchair-accessible transportation, assistance entering a vehicle, or space for medical equipment or a service animal, confirm those requirements in advance.
Keep the vehicle fueled or adequately charged and park it facing a practical exit when possible. If an evacuation warning is issued and you require extra time or assistance, begin arranging transportation early.
Prepare for Medical Conditions
Maintain a concise written medical information sheet containing:
- Medical conditions and allergies
- Prescription names, dosages, and schedules
- Healthcare providers and pharmacies
- Health-insurance information
- Emergency medical contacts
- Medical devices and equipment suppliers
- Mobility, hearing, vision, or communication needs
Ask a healthcare provider or pharmacist how to maintain an appropriate emergency medication supply. Do not change a dosage, combine prescriptions, or alter storage conditions without professional guidance.
If you depend on refrigerated medication, oxygen equipment, a powered mobility device, CPAP equipment, or another electrical medical device, plan for backup power and possible relocation. A utility medical-baseline program may offer useful services, but it does not guarantee uninterrupted electricity or priority restoration.
Consider wearing medical-alert identification when appropriate. Give necessary medical and access information to at least one trusted contact, but protect detailed personal records from unnecessary disclosure.
Include Pets in the Plan
A pet may be your primary companion, but you may not be home when an emergency begins. Arrange for at least two trusted people who could access the residence and evacuate or care for the animal when it is safe and lawful.
Provide written instructions covering:
- Where the pet may hide
- Carrier, leash, and supply locations
- Food and medication requirements
- Veterinary contacts
- Microchip and identification information
- Approved temporary caregivers
- Pet-friendly evacuation destinations
Keep carriers assembled and accessible. Practice placing pets inside them because frightened animals may hide or resist handling. Include food, water, medicine, vaccination records, photographs, waste supplies, and a familiar comfort item in the pet emergency kit.
Make Sure Someone Knows You Evacuated
One of the most important parts of emergency planning for someone who lives alone is closing the communication loop. After leaving home, tell your check-in partners:
- That you have evacuated
- Where you are going
- Which route you expect to use
- Whether your pet is with you
- When you arrive safely
- If your destination changes
Do not post your home’s vacancy, detailed travel route, or temporary location publicly on social media. Communicate directly with trusted contacts.
If you leave before an evacuation order, do not assume neighbors or relatives will know. A contact who believes you remain inside may unnecessarily place themselves at risk or ask emergency personnel to search for you.
Review your plan at least twice a year and after moving, changing employment, acquiring a pet, starting a medication, changing transportation, or losing an emergency contact. Practice sending a complete evacuation update so the process feels familiar.
Helpful Hint
Choose at least two people who know your emergency plan. One contact may be unreachable, away from home, or affected by the same incident. Give both contacts clear instructions for checking on you and confirm with them after you evacuate safely.
Important Safety Reminder
Living alone does not mean responding alone. Leave promptly when authorities order an evacuation, and do not delay departure while waiting for a friend or neighbor. If you face an immediate threat, cannot evacuate safely, or experience a medical emergency, call 911 and clearly state your location and assistance needs.
Important Preparedness and Safety Notice
This chapter provides general preparedness education, not real-time emergency instructions. Conditions, evacuation zones, routes, shelters, road closures, and public-safety directions can change rapidly. During an emergency, consult current information from authorized public agencies and follow all instructions issued by emergency officials. Call 911 for an immediate threat to life, active fire, serious injury, crime in progress, or another urgent emergency.
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