Find out how long the device runs when the power dies

Quick answer: Call whoever supplies the device and ask how many hours it runs without wall power. Then build everything else (backup power, medications, a place to go) around that number.

That call takes ten minutes, and most families have never made it.

Say your father sleeps on an oxygen concentrator, or your daughter's wheelchair is powered, or your wife's insulin pump needs supplies that don't keep without cold storage. A generic emergency kit doesn't cover any of that. The water, the flashlight and the canned beans all matter. But the device is what fails first, and it fails on a schedule you can find out in advance.

Start with hours, not supplies

Ask the supplier, the manufacturer or the clinic these questions, and write the answers down:

• How long does the built-in battery last, and does that figure drop as the battery ages?
• Is there a backup (a portable tank, a spare battery, a manual option), and how many hours does it give?
• What can charge or power it besides the wall? A car adapter, a battery pack, a generator?
• Who do we call after hours if it stops working?

Then tape the hours to the device itself. "Battery: 4 hrs. Backup tank: 6 hrs. Supplier: 555-0142." Use your own numbers, obviously. Somebody who has never touched the machine will be standing in front of it at 2 a.m., and they need that line.

One caution. Don't test a life-sustaining device by cutting its power just to see what happens. Ask the doctor or supplier how to verify the backup safely. Some equipment can be checked with the patient on an alternate source. Some can't.

Call the utility and the county before the storm

Many electric companies keep a list of customers who rely on medical equipment. Ask yours whether it has one and what paperwork it wants, which often includes a doctor's signature. Get on it.

Understand what it does and doesn't do. Being listed can get you called before a planned shutoff or flagged in a restoration plan. It does not promise your lights come back first. Treat it as a head start, never as the plan.

Do the same with local emergency management or your fire department's non-emergency line. Some counties keep a registry of residents who'd need help evacuating. Ask whether yours does, and ask which shelter in your area can handle medical needs, has power for equipment, and takes service animals. Service animals are allowed in shelters under federal law, but you want to know the answer before the roads are full.

The federal government also runs a program for exactly this situation. HHS's emPOWER Program (empowerprogram.gov) offers planning tips and tools for people who rely on electricity-dependent equipment. Read it once and pull out what applies.

If somebody at an office brushes you off, stay polite and stay put. Ask for a supervisor. Write down the name and the date. Your family member isn't an inconvenience to them, and you're allowed to insist.

Medications and supplies

Ready.gov and the Red Cross both point to a week's supply of medications as the target. Talk to the pharmacist about how to get there. Insurance often limits early refills, but the limits can loosen when an emergency is declared, and a pharmacist will know how it works where you live.

Don't stop at pills. Think about what gets used up or breaks:

• Dressings, catheters, tubing, feeding supplies, test strips
• Hearing aid and cochlear processor batteries, plus a spare pair of glasses
• Anything that needs refrigeration

For refrigerated medication, don't guess. The manufacturer's label and your pharmacist can tell you how long it holds up at room temperature and what to do when it can't stay cold. Keep a cooler and ice packs where you can grab them, and ask the doctor for a written plan.

Check expiration dates twice a year. Pick two dates you already remember, like the clock change in the fall and again in spring.

The card that speaks for them

Your family member may not be able to explain their situation in an emergency. A stranger may be handling things. Make a one-page card, in print, because phones die.

Put on it:

• Name, date of birth, and emergency contacts
• Diagnoses, allergies, and every medication with its dose
• Each device by make and model, plus the supplier's number
• Doctors' names and phone numbers
• How the person communicates, what calms them, and what frightens them

That last line matters most for someone with autism, dementia or a cognitive disability. A change of routine and a crowded gym full of cots can hit hard. Pack what comforts: noise-reducing headphones, a familiar blanket, a favorite snack, the same cup. Add an ID bracelet if wandering is a risk.

Make two copies. One rides in the go-bag and one goes on the person. Keep a photo on your phone as a third, but don't count on it.

Power that doesn't depend on the grid

A portable battery pack sized for the device is the simplest answer for small equipment. Ask the supplier which ones are compatible, because the wrong one can damage the machine. For larger needs, a generator works, and the rules are non-negotiable: outdoors, at least twenty feet from the house, never in a garage. Read Twenty Feet From the House and Other Generator Rules before you buy anything.

A car can charge small devices with the right adapter, but only with the car outside and the exhaust pointed away from the house. Keep the tank above half. Charge everything the night the forecast turns.

A wheelchair user has a different problem. Know how far a full charge goes and whether there's a manual option. Elevators don't run in an outage, so if you live above the ground floor, ask your fire department how it handles carrying someone down. Better to hear that answer now than on the stairs.

Getting out early

Leave earlier than everyone else. A family with a person who needs a ramp, a van lift or an hour to load equipment shouldn't wait for the last orders.

Pick your destination before you need it. A relative's house outside the affected area beats a shelter. Make sure it has outlets, a bed that works, and a way in. Then pack the go-bag with the card, a week of medications, spare batteries and the chargers. For more on the basics, The Seventy-Two Hour Kit Your Family Will Actually Use covers the rest of the bag.

If an elderly parent is the one in the chair, What Your Parents Need Before The Next Three-Day Outage goes deeper on that.

Plan for the caregiver being the problem

You're probably the one holding all of this together. What happens if you're hurt, or at work across town when it hits?

Pick three people: a neighbor, a relative, a friend. Give each a key and a copy of the card. Teach at least one of them how to run the device, hands on, not by text. Agree on who checks in and when.

And if you're the neighbor, be the one who shows up. Knock on the door after the storm. Bring a charged battery pack, or ice, or a hot meal. Leave their kitchen cleaner than you found it.

Put the card on the machine today. A plan nobody can find at 2 a.m. isn't a plan.