What this is
Review status: This is a public review draft. Emergency Management Ontario and other emergency management authorities have not reviewed or endorsed it.
This site is called The Second Emergency. The first emergency is the failure itself: the card that won't tap, the pharmacy that can't fill a prescription, the door that won't open. The second emergency is everything that follows in people's lives. This site has spent weeks asking who plans for that. Asking is not enough, so here is a plan a household can use.
It is a working paper. It will change as readers test it, question it and tell us what is missing. Please read it, try it, and tell us through the contact page what works and what doesn't. Every change will be recorded.
The first part of this page explains the idea. The Plan itself starts below and stands on its own, so you can print it, download it or share it.
Canada's 72-hour kit guidance helps a household get through the first days of an emergency, whether you stay home or have to leave: water, food, a flashlight, a radio, medication and copies of important papers. This plan adds a layer to that kit.
Sometimes the screens go quiet. Sometimes they keep working and give you the wrong answer. And sometimes there is no screen at all, just a pharmacy counter that can't fill your prescription today.
Most plans prepare for the first kind. This one prepares you for both. It is not about who caused the problem. It is about what your household does next.
Questions you may have
Has an emergency management organization reviewed this plan?
Not yet. The work on this site has been sent to Emergency Management Ontario and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and this plan will follow. They are welcome to review it, correct it, adopt it or build on it. In the meantime it is published openly, so households can start preparing now rather than wait.
Is this plan available in other languages?
The full plan is in English and French. The first steps and the two household sheets are also available in eleven more languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Tagalog, Arabic, Spanish, Tamil, Persian, Urdu, Korean and Russian) as machine translations that are being checked. The full plan in those languages will follow once native speakers have checked it. For help now in more than 150 languages, call 211. If you spot an error in a translation, please tell us through the contact page.
What about people who are blind or have low vision?
This page is built to work with screen readers, which read it aloud or send it to a refreshable Braille display. A large print version, a black and white print version and an audio version are planned. If you need a printed Braille copy, contact us and we will work to arrange one.
Who should own a plan like this?
Municipalities. Every Ontario municipality is required to have an emergency plan, and household guidance like this belongs alongside it. This draft is offered for municipalities and emergency management organizations to review, adapt and adopt. Until then, it will keep improving here in the open.
Why publish a plan now?
Because a household can start preparing today, and a plan that exists can be tested and improved. Every change will be recorded, and anyone with better information is invited to help make it stronger.
The Second Emergency
The Plan
Everything your household needs, in one place. Choose your language, then work through it section by section.
Before you use this plan, please read the Important notice at the end. You will be asked to accept it before any download.
Section ARight now
If this happens today
Start here. One step at a time.
- Is anyone in danger right now? Call 911 or get emergency help.
- What has actually stopped, or given you an answer you don't trust? Write it down.
- Check an official source through something that still works: a radio, a different phone, your city's website.
- Contact your household and anyone who depends on you.
- Use the backup you prepared. Keep a note of payments, instructions and appointments you will need to check later.
A declined card, a dropped call and a strange text may be separate problems. Deal with each one on its own.
This plan works alongside official help, never instead of it
Section BBefore: prepare now, in twelve parts
Know what your household depends on
Sit down together and list the things you count on every day. Most people have never seen this written down, and the list alone is an eye-opener.
- Money: paying for things, bills that come out automatically, pay and benefit deposits
- Talking to family: phones, texts, video calls
- Health: prescriptions, appointments, equipment that needs power
- Water and food: safe tap water, food that needs a fridge or freezer
- Home: heat, cooling, lights, locks, elevators, entry fobs
- Getting around: transit cards, gas pumps, ride apps
- Work and income: who in the house loses pay if things stop
- News: where you normally find out what is happening
Money
- If you can, keep some cash at home, in small bills
- Write down which bills are paid automatically, so you know what may bounce
- Write your bank's phone number on paper, not only in your phone
- If you can, keep a card from a second bank or credit union
- If your household depends on a payment arriving on time, such as pay, ODSP, CPP or another benefit, write down who to call if it doesn't arrive
Not every household has spare money. Knowing who to call is part of the plan too.
Reaching your people
- Keep a paper list of phone numbers. Few of us know them by heart anymore
- Choose a meeting place everyone can reach, including anyone who uses a wheelchair or walker, plus a backup in case the first one is closed
- Agree where to leave a message if plans change
- Agree who picks up the children from school or daycare if you can't reach each other, and make sure the school has that name
- Agree on a family code word
Voices and messages can now be faked convincingly. The code word is a useful extra check. Calling back on a number you trust is the real test.
Health and personal needs
- Write down each person's medications, doses, pharmacy and doctor, and keep it on the private sheet
- Ask your pharmacist whether you can keep a small supply on hand
- If a medicine must stay cold, ask your pharmacist how long it can safely go without a fridge
- If someone relies on equipment that needs power or charging, make an individual backup plan with their care provider
- Think about mobility, hearing, vision and memory needs in your household, and any service animal
- Keep health cards where you can reach them without a screen
Ontario publishes an emergency preparedness guide for people with disabilities. It is a good companion to this part.
Mental health and staying steady
During the pandemic, many people found the isolation, worry and disruption hard on their mental health. A long outage can bring some of the same strain. Plan for it the way you plan for water.
- Know who you would talk to when things feel heavy: a friend, a relative, a faith leader, a counsellor
- Write a support line on your everyday sheet. In Canada, you can call or text 988 at any time for suicide crisis support. Young people can reach Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or by texting 686868
- For help finding community and social services in Ontario, call 211
- If someone in your home lives with a mental health condition, plan for their medication and routine the same way you would for any other health need
- Keep some comfort that doesn't need a screen: books, cards, a radio, a daily walk
- Watch for children and older relatives who go quiet, and check in with them
- Check the news at set times from official sources, rather than all day
Home and basic needs
- How would you find out whether your tap water is safe to drink? Keep some stored drinking water
- Decide what you would eat first if the fridge stopped working
- Think about heat in winter, cooling in summer, light at night and a way to charge phones
- Learn how to open a smart lock without the app, release a garage door by hand and work the thermostat manually
- Know where the physical keys are, and who else has a set
- In an apartment or condo, ask building management what happens to elevators and entry fobs, and where notices will be posted
Pets and service animals
Many households welcomed a pet during the pandemic. Pets count on you completely, so give them a plan of their own.
- Keep at least a week of food, fresh water and any medication for each animal
- Keep a carrier or leash near the door, with a copy of vaccination records
- Ask ahead which friends, family, hotels or shelters would take your pet if you have to leave, because not every place accepts animals
- Keep a photo of each pet on paper as well as on your phone, in case you are separated
- If someone uses a service animal, plan its food, water and care as part of that person's needs
- Write your pets and your veterinarian on the everyday sheet
Information you can trust
Decide now where your household will get official news, so you are not deciding during a rush of rumours.
- Alert Ready, Canada's emergency alert system, reaches phones, television and radio
- Your city's official website and social media accounts
- A battery or crank radio, and the local station you would tune to
- Before you act on anything or share it, check it against one of these
Neighbours
Whether you live in a high-rise, a townhouse row or a street of houses, part of the plan is the people around you.
- Know who nearby lives alone, is older, cares for someone, or relies on medical equipment
- Agree on one simple check: a knock on the door, a note under it
- Share this plan with them. It works better when a whole floor or street has one
The second emergency
The first emergency is the failure itself. The second is everything that follows: schools closed, businesses shut, children home, tempers short, rumours moving faster than facts. We learned during the pandemic that the fallout can last longer than the event.
- Keep a daily routine, especially for children
- Buy what you need, not what you fear. Empty shelves hurt the people who shop after you
- Check on someone every day, even briefly
- Verify before you forward anything
Your two household sheets
Some information is safe for anyone in the house to see. Some is not. Keep two sheets: an everyday sheet the household can see, and a private sheet kept somewhere secure. Both templates are below, and both can be filled in by hand.
Practise once
Choose one evening and put the phones in a drawer. Keep on any device someone needs for health or safety. Then try to answer these questions as a household:
- Could we buy groceries?
- Could we reach our elder family members?
- Could we find out what is happening in the city?
- Could everyone get into the house?
This is a starting exercise. Whatever you could not do shows you what to fix. It is also a surprisingly pleasant evening.
Section CAfter
When service comes back
The emergency doesn't end the moment the screen lights up. In the days after, take an hour to check:
- Payments: did anything go through twice, or not at all?
- Pay and benefit deposits: did they arrive?
- Prescriptions and appointments: did you miss any? Rebook them
- Instructions you acted on: were they real? Check anything you did because of a message
- Errors: tell your bank, pharmacy, landlord or other provider what went wrong, in writing if you can
- Your plan: what worked and what didn't? Update your sheets
Section DYour household sheets
Everyday sheet
Safe to keep where the household can see it, such as on the fridge or inside a cupboard door.
Private sheet
Keep this one somewhere secure, not on display and not in the car. Make sure the adults who need it know where it is.
End of the plan. The Plan is part of The Second Emergency, TheSecondEmergency.com
Extra pages for particular needs, to come
About this plan
This plan is general information for households. It is not professional advice, and in an emergency the instructions of emergency officials come first. It adds to the Government of Canada's 72-hour kit guidance and does not replace it. In emergency planning, extra pages like these are called annexes: each one builds on the core plan for a particular situation. This is a working paper, and every change will be recorded in the site updates log. It is free to use, copy, adapt and share, with attribution to TheSecondEmergency.com.
Important notice
This plan is a public review draft from The Second Emergency, an independent project. It is not an official government document. It has not been reviewed, approved or endorsed by Emergency Management Ontario, any municipality, or any emergency management authority or professional body.
It is general information to help households think ahead. It is not professional, legal, medical or financial advice. It does not replace the instructions of emergency services, public health, your municipality, your doctor or pharmacist, or your bank.
In an emergency, call 911 first. Always follow the instructions of officials.
Why it is published now. The services people rely on can fail without warning. We are not aware of official household guidance written for this kind of failure, so this draft is shared openly: so households can prepare, and so the people responsible can review, correct, adopt or replace it.
Use it at your own discretion. Check anything that affects your health, safety or money with the right professional or official source. The Second Emergency makes no guarantee that this plan is complete or suits every household, and accepts no responsibility for decisions made using it.
Versions in languages other than English are machine translations being checked. If a translation differs from the English, the English version applies.
Avis important
Ce plan est une version provisoire soumise à l'examen du public, publiée par The Second Emergency, un projet indépendant. Ce n'est pas un document officiel du gouvernement. Il n'a été ni examiné, ni approuvé, ni appuyé par Gestion des situations d'urgence Ontario, par une municipalité, ni par une autorité ou un organisme professionnel de gestion des urgences.
Il s'agit de renseignements généraux pour aider les ménages à se préparer. Ce ne sont pas des conseils professionnels, juridiques, médicaux ou financiers. Ils ne remplacent pas les consignes des services d'urgence, de la santé publique, de votre municipalité, de votre médecin ou pharmacien, ni de votre banque.
En cas d'urgence, appelez d'abord le 911. Suivez toujours les consignes des autorités.
Pourquoi le publier maintenant. Les services sur lesquels on compte peuvent tomber en panne sans avertissement. Nous ne connaissons pas de consignes officielles pour les ménages rédigées pour ce type de panne. Cette version est donc partagée ouvertement, pour que les ménages puissent se préparer et que les responsables puissent l'examiner, la corriger, l'adopter ou la remplacer.
Utilisez-le à votre discrétion. Vérifiez tout ce qui touche votre santé, votre sécurité ou votre argent auprès d'un professionnel ou d'une source officielle. The Second Emergency ne garantit pas que ce plan est complet ou qu'il convient à chaque ménage, et décline toute responsabilité quant aux décisions prises en l'utilisant. Les versions dans d'autres langues que l'anglais sont des traductions automatiques en cours de vérification. En cas de différence, la version anglaise prévaut.