Create an emergency plan

An emergency plan contains important information about the person you care for. It explains what needs to happen in an emergency if something happens to you. For example, if you are unwell or have an accident and cannot care for the person. Having this plan in place makes it easier and quicker for someone else to support them when you can't.

Once you create an emergency plan, you'll get an emergency carer's card with a phone number on it. You (or someone else if you can't) can call this number to put your plan into action if something happens.

What the emergency plan includes

The emergency plan includes practical information like:

Your details
Details about the person you care for and how you support them. This includes any conditions they have
Details of two or more people who can be contacted in an emergency and what support they will provide
Whether the person you care for has pets and who will care for them in an emergency. Read more information about pet care in an emergency
Details of any assistive technology the person you care for uses, such as a pendant alarm
How to access the property of the person you care for. For example, if they have a keysafe
If the person you care for has a power of attorney.

How to create an emergency plan

To create your emergency plan, you'll need to fill out our adult carer emergency plan form:

Complete the adult carer emergency plan form

You will be able to print the completed plan so you can share it with people in your support network.

Help to complete an emergency plan form

If you need help to fill in the form, you can contact us by telephone or text relay:

•Telephone: 0344 800 8020 - this number is open 24 hours a day
•Text relay (for people with hearing or speech impairments): 18001 0344 800 8020

If you are a young carer, there is advice on creating a young carer's emergency plan on Carer's Matter Norfolk.

What happens after you submit the emergency plan form?

After you've completed the adult carer emergency plan form, it goes to adult social care. You will also get a copy of the plan by email.

Adult social care will send you an emergency carer's card. This is the card that can put your emergency plan into action if something happens.

The emergency card states that you're a carer and that someone is relying on you to keep them safe and well. It also shows your emergency plan number and the emergency helpline number. You should always carry your carer's emergency card with you.

We recommend that you keep a copy of the emergency plan with other important documents for the person you support. For example, in a folder with all the information you share with professionals.

What happens in an emergency?

Call the emergency helpline number shown on your emergency carer's card and give the number of your emergency plan when asked. If you are unable to call the helpline yourself, someone else can do this for you.

The emergency helpline service will contact the emergency contacts named in your plan. Your contacts can then help the person you care for.

We will arrange temporary emergency care for the person you support if:

The emergency helpline service cannot contact your emergency contacts
You don't have anyone who can help nearby.

This is to allow enough time to plan what will need to happen next.

Example use of an emergency plan

Jonathan takes care of his wife Laura, who has limited mobility. He prepares meals and drinks for her and can leave for short periods to walk the dogs. But he worries about his own health and what would happen if he got sick while he was away from home.

They talked with their daughters. They agreed that if Jonathan became ill, one daughter would take care of Laura and the other daughter would take care of the dogs. He has added all the relevant information to the emergency plan.

One day, Jonathan was taken to hospital while he was shopping. He showed the paramedic his carer's emergency card, and the paramedic called the number on the card and asked to activate the plan. Adult social care contacted Jonathan's daughters, and the daughters came to take care of Laura and the dogs.

If the daughters were unable to help or if the plan had specified there was nobody to ring, adult social care would have assisted Laura in getting the right support in place while Jonathan was in hospital.

Frequently asked questions

How do I update my emergency plan?

You are responsible for keeping your emergency plan up-to-date. You will need to update the plan if:

The support needs of the person you care for change
The person you care for is prescribed a new or different medication
One of your named emergency contacts is no longer able to provide support
One of your named emergency contacts changes their phone number or address.

To update your plan, you'll need to complete the adult carer emergency plan form again with the updated details.

This will ensure that adult social care have access to the most up-to-date version of your plan. If you have shared your plan with people in your support network, you should also make sure they have a copy of the most up to date plan.

I need a new carer's emergency card. How do I get one?

You can call 0344 800 8020 to request a new card.

What happens if I don't have anyone to add to my emergency plan, or only have one person?

You can add that you will need adult social care to organise support in the event of an emergency.

I don't have an email address. Can I get a copy posted to me?

When you complete the adult carer emergency plan form there is an option to request a postal copy.