Emergency situations can happen at any time and you wouldn’t want to encounter them if given a choice. When they happen, we get frazzled and don’t know how to respond. This is why you should prepare an emergency contact sheet template just in case. The list contains the most important names and contact details of the people that emergency responders should contact in case an emergency happens. Having the list saves time and even lives. Just make sure to only include the people you trust in your list.
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Contact Sheet Templates
What is a contact sheet template?
An emergency contact list is a list of emergency details. Most contact sheet examples are very small and include important people like trusted family members and your doctor’s contact details. You can also make your list more complex by including vital information for each member of your family.
Your emergency contact list should contain a list of anyone who the first responders need to inform in case of an emergency along with any backup contacts. Since you can’t predict what will happen in the future, the best thing to do is to prepare for the unexpected. You might not need the list but having it gives you a greater sense of peace knowing that it’s ready when needed.
Emergency Contact Sheet Templates
What to include?
It is vital that every household have a contact list template that contains important names and contact details posted somewhere accessible. Having the list visible when an emergency strikes can save a lot of time. Here are some of the basic information to include in your personal contact list:
- The names and birth dates of each of your family member
- The contact numbers of each family member.
- Names and contact details of the following agencies and people
- Local contacts including anybody who lives close to you like your neighbors, relatives, landlord, and so on.
- Relatives who could get contacted in the event of an emergency or could make medical decisions for you if needed.
- Work contacts including your supervisor, boss, or a close colleague.
- Family doctor’s full name and contact number along with the hospital’s contact number too. Include your doctor’s after-hours number too.
- Other emergency contact persons including anyone who could get contacted in the event of an emergency when your primary contacts are out of reach. These could be relatives, friends, and other people you trust.
- Police or ambulance, which is usually 911. Also, include important non-emergency numbers.
- Fire department contact numbers.
- Gas company contact details for any gas-related emergencies.
- Electric company contact details for any electrical-related emergencies
- Plumber contact details in case of plumbing emergencies like burst pipes.
- Other utility companies’ emergency contact details.
- Poison control center contact details in case someone in your household comes in contact with or has consumed toxic substances.
- List of special equipment, medication, or conditions. Create this list by family member – include any special medical conditions like allergies or specific medications they take like inhalers, insulin, Epi-pens, and more. Also, include necessary and important medical equipment like blood glucose testing machines, blood pressure monitors, CPAP machines, and so on.
- Health care or health insurance contact details in case your insurance company or state or provincial health coverage providers need to get contacted. Also, include any personal health numbers (PHNs), group numbers, and insurance policies of each person in your household.
- Emergency vet in case your pet encounters any veterinary emergencies.
Choosing personal emergency contacts
Many consider choosing an emergency contact as nothing more than a formality when filling out application or employment forms, completing paperwork on your first day at work, or when visiting your doctor. But choosing your emergency contacts is more than just answering the phone when something goes wrong.
An ideal emergency contact should have the capacity to converse with medical professionals about your medical history, chronic conditions, current medications, and special conditions like allergies. There are also situations when your emergency contact must make life-saving medical decisions for you.
Therefore, it’s important to select someone who’s willing to take on the responsibility, answer any questions emergency responders might have, and has the legal right to act on your behalf. Here are some things to consider when choosing your personal emergency contacts:
- The person you select must have no issue acting as your emergency contact. This will make you feel more confident. Just remember to tell the person that you have given them the responsibility.
- Make sure that you and your family member agree with your selection. This avoids any occurrences of unpleasant surprises in the event that you will need your emergency contact. This also gives you an opportunity to make sure your emergency contact will receive all of the necessary information to act on your behalf.
- Ask your emergency contact if they could be there for you if you need to have any specific procedures. If the person you choose is often tied up at work or other obligations, they might not be the right person to choose.
- Your emergency contact might have to explain your medical history, medications you take, or special conditions if something should happen. Ideally, the contact should know this information by heart and communicate these to the emergency responders. Providing this information to your emergency contact after informing them that you chose them is more effective if you also provide a written copy of your medical history, even if it just contains basic details. Doing this makes it easier for your contact to communicate instead of just relying on their memory in an emergency.
- Name the same person as your emergency contact and your agent. This should make sense because the first person the doctors will notify in an emergency situation is your emergency contact.
- You may include a medical power of attorney to give your emergency contact the power to make medical decisions on your behalf if needed.
Contact Sheet Examples
Using the document at work
You also need a contact or phone list template for work. Employers want to make sure that the work environment is always safe. Although most workplaces aren’t inherently dangerous, especially for 9-to-5 office jobs, having the list is still important.
Unfortunately, many employers don’t make it a requirement for their employees to provide their emergency contact details. Since employees spend a lot of their time at work, often in stressful environments, it’s time to reconsider this practice. You can never predict medical emergencies and they could inevitably happen even in the safest work environments.
If an emergency takes place, helping the affected person should be your priority. But this can become problematic for employers because HR Departments don’t have complete records or accurate data on an employee faced with an emergency. This is a simple example of why having an updated emergency contact list in the workplace is essential.
When accidents happen in the workplace, employers should know who to contact to help the people involved. Having reliable data is of the essence. Although it isn’t easy to think about having an accident in the workplace, employers often find themselves in a situation where they will need their employee’s emergency contact details. Emergencies can come in different forms:
- If one of the employees faints, gets sick, or has a medical emergency that requires calling 911.
- If there is an accident where an employee gets injured.
- If an employee on sick leave doesn’t respond to communications after a number of days and doesn’t provide an estimated date when they will go back to work.
- If an employee doesn’t show up at work without any prior notice and nobody can reach them.
- If an employee passes away and the employer needs to sort out their final paycheck and paperwork.
No matter what the case is, employers will need to reach out to their employees’ families or other trusted contacts to inform them of what happened. There are also cases where employers gather emergency contact details from employees but forget to update their contact lists regularly.
This isn’t good practice since outdated emergency contact lists are the same as having no list at all. The HR Department should work on updating the information at least 1 to 2 times each year. But there might be cases where some employees have several emergency contacts, which could pose a problem as it becomes challenging for the HR Department to keep track of all those details.
Since having outdated employee contact details isn’t a good option, both employers and the HR Departments should come up with a solution. They should accept that accidents can happen in the workplace which is why it’s imperative for them to know who to contact when such a case occurs. They should also have a reliable data quality system to keep all of the important information accurate and updated.
Contact List Templates
How do I make a contact sheet?
Many business establishments should be on the lookout for any risks in the workplace that could lead to emergency situations. Although dealing with emergencies isn’t something on any employer’s priority list, they should know how to handle these situations quickly should they occur. Knowing who they need to contact can greatly help in the effective management of stressful situations. This is one reason why having an emergency contact list for work is important.
Your office’s business information should be the first entry in the contact sheet including the name of your company, company address, and telephone numbers. It’s essential for this information to be easily accessible so that the person who talks to the emergency responders can sort out the details right away. Aside from your company’s information, the list should also contain other relevant details like:
- Manager and key employee details. If an employee has any problems with the building they’re working in, the facility manager or landlord can be very helpful, especially if the problem involves damage or physical mishaps in the workspace. Include all essential contact information of the manager and other key employees. If you cannot contact these people right away, you could lose valuable time. If the emergency involves an employee, the employer should notify their emergency contacts too. The list should include their names, email addresses, contact details, and an additional emergency contact for each of the employees.
- Emergency service numbers. 911 is the go-to emergency number for most emergency cases although it isn’t the only one that deserves a spot on the office contact list. Employers should consider adding the contact numbers for animal control, poison control, the security company, and other industry-specific services that they might need when things go wrong.
- Insurance information. If an employer realizes that their business might be at risk of loss or if such a loss has already occurred, they need to contact their insurer right away. Employers need to include in the list the name of the insurance company, the company’s policy number, and the direct number to the insurance company’s claims department to start the process.
- Utility Company. Utility companies play an important role in any business operations. Therefore, it’s necessary to keep them in the loop. They should include the contact details of electricity, water, and gas service providers since these companies can help minimize damages brought about by any building-related issues.
- Employees. For the protection of the employees in the company, if an emergency situation occurs, it’s important for employers to have the emergency information of all their employees. This allows the employer to take the necessary steps to inform the loved ones of those involved. If the company has many employees, the employer could arrange the names of the employees in a specific order, which they will follow when contacting their employees’ contact emergencies. An emergency contact list identifies for each employee the contact person they have chosen should an emergency occur. Employers should also include any medical details that can help save the lives of their employees.
- Other useful contacts. In cases of emergencies, employers may need to contact other services too. These include taxi companies, tow trucks, locksmiths, and more. Since adding these relevant services won’t cost anything, they deserve to be on the list. In case something comes up and the employer needs such services, they won’t have to search frantically for the necessary numbers.
