Emergency Contact List Template for Seniors Living Alone

An emergency contact list for a senior who lives alone should start with the person who can physically get to the house fastest, not the person they love most. For each contact, write the name, relationship, best phone number, whether they have a key, and whether they're the one legally named to make medical decisions. Then add doctors, the pharmacy, a neighbor or two, and the police non-emergency line. Post it on the fridge and next to every phone, put the short version in their phone's lock-screen emergency info and their wallet, and date it.

Below is an emergency contact list template for seniors that you can copy, notes on each field, and the extras that matter when nobody else lives in the house.

Why the order matters more when they live alone

If your mom lives alone, whoever finds the list makes the calls for her: a paramedic, a neighbor who heard the smoke alarm, a hospital social worker at 11 p.m. That reader doesn't know your family and will start at the top. So the top of the list has two jobs: someone who can answer the phone and someone who can get to the door.

Those are often different people. You may be the right first call because you know her history, but if you live four hours away, the neighbor with the spare key is the one who can let the crew in, find the pill bottles and feed the cat. Put both near the top, and label which is which.

A good order for most families:

1. The closest key holder. Someone who lives nearby, answers their phone, and can be at the door quickly.
2. The health care agent. The person named in a durable power of attorney for health care (sometimes called a health care proxy) to make medical decisions if your parent can't. The National Institute on Aging explains that this proxy may also be called a representative, surrogate or agent.
3. The main family contact, if that's someone other than the health care agent.
4. A backup key holder.
5. A second family contact, ideally in a different time zone or with a different work schedule, so somebody is reachable at odd hours.

If one person fills two roles, list them once and write both roles next to their name.

The emergency contact list template

Copy this into a document, fill it in with your parent, and print it in large type. The Health in Aging Foundation's home safety tips recommend keeping a list of emergency numbers by each phone, printed large enough to read when you're in a hurry or frightened.

Top of the page

• Name (and the name they go by):
• Address, with nearest cross street:
• Date of birth:
• Lives alone: yes
• Main language, and hearing or vision needs:
• Pets in the home:
• Spare key is with:
• List last updated (date):

People to call, in this order

Medical and household contacts

Documents and where they are

• Health care power of attorney (health care proxy): yes / no / don't know. Location of original:
• Living will: yes / no / don't know. Location:
• POLST or DNR: yes / no / don't know. Location:
• Medication list: location (fridge, binder, phone):
• Insurance cards: location:

That Health in Aging tip sheet names the minimum: 911, Poison Control, a family member or friend, and the doctor's office.

What each field is for

Best phone and second phone. A cell number that goes to voicemail at night isn't a first-line number. Ask each person which number actually wakes them up. If someone has a landline, put it second.

Relationship. Write "daughter" or "neighbor, two doors down," not just a first name.

Has a key? Say yes or no for every person. If there's a lockbox or a door code, don't write the code on a list that hangs on the fridge. Write "neighbor knows the lockbox code" and leave it there.

Can make medical decisions? This is the box people skip, and it's the one hospitals ask about. Only write "yes" for someone who is actually named in a signed health care power of attorney, or who your parent's doctor or the law in their state would treat as the decision-maker. Being the oldest child doesn't count by itself. If you're not sure the document exists, write "don't know" and find out. If you need permission to talk to doctors without being the decision-maker, our guide to a HIPAA authorization for a parent covers that separate form.

Lives how far away. "Ten minutes" and "a flight" lead to different decisions at 2 a.m.

Medical alert company and account number. If your parent has a button or pendant that calls a monitoring service, that service probably has its own contact list. Ask the company which people it calls, and in what order, and make that match this page.

Where to put the list so someone actually finds it

A list in a drawer is a list nobody uses. For a parent who lives alone, plan on at least four copies.

On the fridge and by every phone

The fridge is the classic spot, and programs like the Vial of Life are built around it. Health in Aging adds the phones: keep a copy by each one.

If your parent already has a Vial of Life or File of Life form, tuck the contact list behind it in the same pocket.

In their phone's lock screen

Most phones can show emergency contacts and medical details from the lock screen without the passcode. You may remember the old trick of saving a contact as "ICE," for in case of emergency. It doesn't help much when the phone is locked, which is why the built-in lock-screen features are better.

iPhone (Medical ID). Apple's support page on setting up Medical ID says first responders can see it from the lock screen without the passcode, including allergies, medical conditions and who to contact. To set it up:

1. Open the Health app, tap the profile picture in the upper corner, then tap Medical ID.
2. Tap Get Started or Edit, and add medications, allergies and conditions.
3. Under Emergency Contacts, add each person and choose their relationship.
4. Turn on Show When Locked, and turn on the emergency call sharing switch (called Emergency Call or Share During Emergency Call, depending on the iOS version), so the Medical ID goes to emergency services during a 911 call. Apple says that automatic sharing works only in the U.S. and Canada.

One more from Apple's emergency call guide: if your parent calls an emergency number, the iPhone can send the Medical ID emergency contacts a notice and share the phone's location. For someone living alone, that may be how you learn a 911 call happened at all.

To check it from the lock screen, Apple's iPhone User Guide says to swipe up or press the Home button (depending on the model), tap Emergency on the passcode screen, then tap Medical ID.

Android. Google's help page on getting help in an emergency with an Android phone says the Personal Safety app (it shows up as "Safety" in the app list) can hold emergency contacts and medical information like allergies and medications on the lock screen. In the app, sign in to the Google Account, tap Your info, add Medical information and Emergency contacts, then go to Emergency info access and turn on Show when locked. Google notes some steps work only on Android 12 and up, and that the same menu has a setting to share the info during an emergency call. To view it on a locked phone, swipe up, tap Emergency, then View emergency info. Samsung and other brands label their menus differently, so on those phones search Settings for "emergency."

Google also says, plainly, that anyone who picks up the phone can see the lock-screen emergency information. So put names, numbers, allergies and medications there, and never a door code, PIN or account number.

In their wallet

Phones die, get left on the counter, or end up under the car seat after a fall in the parking lot. A wallet card covers the gap. The Health in Aging Foundation's emergency preparedness tip sheet suggests putting an extra copy of emergency numbers in a travel wallet, purse or suitcase.

A wallet card only needs the top three contacts, the doctor, major allergies and conditions, and one line: "Full list on my fridge." If your parent has a POLST, add where the original is kept; our POLST form guide covers where that document usually lives.

With the people on the list

Each person on the list should have a copy, and should know they're on it. Otherwise a neighbor gets a call from the ER and has no idea why.

Extras for a parent who lives alone

Someone who lives alone also needs a way for people to notice something is wrong. Write these onto the list, or right below it.

A key holder who has actually tested the key

At least one person within easy driving distance needs a working key. Have them try it once. Locks get changed, deadbolts get added, and that old key in the neighbor's junk drawer may not turn.

Tell the key holder where to find what a crew or hospital will ask for: the medication list, pill bottles, insurance cards, glasses, hearing aids. Print our list of what to bring to the ER for an elderly parent and leave it with them.

A daily check-in, with a time on it

The National Institute on Aging's page on falls and fractures suggests that people keep a charged cordless or mobile phone with them at all times and arrange for daily contact with a family member or friend.

A call, a text, a neighbor who watches for the blinds going up: any of these works if it happens at about the same time and somebody notices when it doesn't.

Some sheriff's offices run free versions of this. The Wake County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina has a Senior Well Check Program for residents 65 and older who live alone: a call every day at 9 a.m., press 1 if you're OK. If the third call, at 9:10, goes unanswered, the program calls the key contact, and if nobody has heard from the person, a deputy goes out. Similar programs are often called "Are You OK?" or "telephone reassurance," so ask the local sheriff's or police non-emergency line. The federal Eldercare Locator (1-800-677-1116) can also connect you with the local Area Agency on Aging, which tends to know what's available.

If you sign up, write the program's name and number on the contact list, and make sure the "key contact" the program calls is the same person who's number one on your list.

A plan for when nobody answers

Decide this ahead of time, write it at the bottom of the list, and share it with everyone on it. A short version:

1. Call again in 15 minutes, on every number.
2. Ask the closest key holder to knock and, if needed, let themselves in.
3. If nobody can get there, call the local police non-emergency line and ask for a welfare check.
4. If anyone sees your parent hurt or unresponsive, call 911.

Our long-distance caregiving checklist walks through this plan in more detail if you live far away.

Getting a welfare check right

A welfare check (or wellness check) is when an officer or deputy goes to the home to see if the person is all right. You usually request one through the non-emergency line; for an emergency, call 911.

Two details make a difference:

• Call the right agency. In a news release, the City of Elkins, West Virginia, described a caller worried about an elderly cousin whose home had an Elkins address but sat four miles outside the city, so the right call was the county non-emergency line, and a sheriff's deputy did the check. A mailing address doesn't always tell you whose jurisdiction a home is in. Look up the right non-emergency number for your parent's actual address now, and write it on the list.
• Have the details ready. The same Elkins release lists what dispatchers will want: the person's full name, exact address, why you're calling (for example, no contact for a period of time), the last known contact, your relationship, any known medical conditions, and your contact information so they can follow up.

Most of that is already on a good contact list, so keep a copy on your own phone too.

A medical alert button or watch

The National Institute on Aging's page on aging in place describes emergency medical alert systems as monitors a person wears that alert emergency personnel when they become lost, fall, or need urgent medical help. NIA's falls page adds that some smartwatches do this too.

Put the device on the contact list: company, phone, subscriber number, and who the company calls. It only works if it's charged and worn, so if your parent takes it off to shower, that's worth a conversation.

A Smart911-type profile, where it exists

Smart911 is a free service in some communities that lets people create a safety profile with household members, health information, pets, and notes about the home, like hidden driveways or gate codes. Smart911 says the profile is seen only if you call 911, by the call taker in any area that uses Smart911. It isn't everywhere, so check whether your parent's area participates first.

Some towns keep their own version, like the Senior Emergency Information Form in Hamilton, Massachusetts, which is kept at the senior center and may be shared with police and fire. The American Red Cross's preparedness sheet for older adults suggests finding out whether there are local registries and signing up, especially if your parent would need help evacuating. Ask the senior center, the fire department, or the county emergency management office.

Pets

When someone who lives alone goes to the hospital, the dog is still at home. The ASPCA's disaster preparedness page recommends a rescue alert sticker near the front door that lists the types and number of pets and the veterinarian's name and number. It also suggests a temporary caregiver who lives close by and has a set of keys.

On the contact list, write the pets' names, where food and medications are, and who takes them if your parent is admitted. Often that's the neighbor who already has a key.

Keeping the list current

People move, change numbers and switch pharmacies, and nobody updates the paper on the fridge.

The Red Cross preparedness sheet suggests reviewing your plan, supplies and important documents every six months. A simple routine for the contact list:

• Review it every six months. Pick two dates that are easy to remember, like a birthday and a holiday.
• Update it the same week any of these change: a phone number, a doctor, the pharmacy, the key holder, the health care agent, or your parent's address.
• Write the date at the top every time, even if nothing changed.
• Update the phone's lock-screen info and the wallet card at the same time, so the copies agree.
• Once a year, call each person on the list and ask two questions: is this still your best number, and are you still OK being on here?

It feels awkward. It's also how you find out the neighbor is moving in the spring.

Common mistakes

• Only family on the list. If the kids all live far away, at least one contact should be local.
• Assuming the oldest child is the decision-maker. Unless your parent has named someone in a health care power of attorney, write "don't know" and find out.
• No date. A stranger can't tell a current list from one written before the move.
• The medication list squeezed onto the same page. Keep the contact list to one page and give medications their own sheet. Our medication list guide has a format for that.

The contact list is one page of a bigger set. In an emergency binder for an elderly parent, it sits next to the medical summary, insurance details and the "where are the legal papers" pages, which cover what the people on your list get asked once they arrive.

Frequently asked questions

What should be on an emergency contact list for an elderly person?

At minimum: two or three people to call in order, with relationship and best phone number; who has a key; who can make medical decisions; the primary doctor and pharmacy; a neighbor; the police non-emergency number; and Poison Control. Add the date at the top.

How many emergency contacts should a senior have?

Three to five people is a practical range. For someone who lives alone, at least one should live close enough to get to the house quickly, and at least one should be easy to reach at night.

Where should seniors keep their emergency contact list?

On the fridge, next to each phone, in the phone's lock-screen emergency info (Medical ID on iPhone, or the Personal Safety app on many Android phones), on a wallet card, and with each person on the list.

Can first responders see emergency contacts on a locked phone?

Yes, if the feature is set up and turned on. On an iPhone, Medical ID has a Show When Locked setting. On many Android phones, the Personal Safety app has a Show when locked option. Test it on a locked phone to be sure.

How often should an emergency contact list be updated?

Whenever a number, doctor, pharmacy, key holder or address changes, and at least every six months, which is the review interval the American Red Cross suggests for emergency plans and documents.

If you'd rather not start from scratch

You can build this list yourself in an evening with the template above and a phone call to each person on it. If you'd like the rest of the emergency paperwork organized at the same time, Emergency Binder Now walks you through about 25 minutes of guided questions and turns the answers into a printable binder for your parent: the contact pages, a one-page emergency sheet for paramedics or the ER, and a list of anything you still need to track down. You can see a sample binder before deciding.

This article is general information, not legal or medical advice. Rules on who can make medical decisions vary by state, so check with your parent's doctor or an attorney in their state.