What Should a Home Care Agency's Emergency Plan Include?
A risk list, clients ranked by how long they can go without a visit, contact trees, staffing when roads close, and remote access to schedules, records and payroll.
By Caregiver Scheduling Team ·
A home care emergency plan needs six things: the hazards in your area, every client ranked by how long they can safely go without a visit, a contact tree for clients, families and caregivers, a staffing plan for when roads close, a way to run schedules, records and payroll from anywhere, and a yearly drill. Several states require a written plan as a condition of your license.
Does a non-medical agency have to have a written plan?
In many states, yes. Texas requires every licensed home and community support services agency, including personal assistance services, to keep a written emergency preparedness and response plan built on a local risk assessment (26 TAC 558.256). The plan must name a disaster coordinator and an alternate, triage clients, be reviewed at least annually and be tested in a planned drill. Florida requires licensed home health agencies to file a comprehensive emergency management plan with the county health department, and can fine an agency $5,000 per occurrence for not submitting it (Fla. Stat. 400.497). Medicare-certified home health agencies follow the federal rule at 42 CFR 484.102, which asks for a risk assessment, policies, a communication plan, and training and testing, each reviewed at least every two years.
Check your state’s rule through the licensing tool and put the review date on your compliance calendar.
What goes in the plan?
Eight short sections.
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Hazards | The three or four events most likely in your area: hurricane, wildfire, ice, extreme heat, extended power outage, pandemic |
| Client priority list | Every active client with a tier, and the reason for the tier |
| Contacts | Clients, emergency contacts, caregivers, office staff, local emergency management, utility outage lines |
| Communication | Who calls whom, in what order, and what you do when phones are down |
| Staffing | Which caregivers live near which clients; who can walk; who has a 4x4 |
| Supplies | Flashlights, water, phone power banks, gloves and masks in each caregiver’s car kit |
| Continuity | How schedules, care plans, visit records and payroll keep running off-site |
| Review and drills | Annual review date, drill date, and who signs off |
It belongs in your policies and procedures manual.
How do you rank clients by risk?
Ask one question for each client: how many hours can this person safely go without us? Texas requires exactly this kind of triage, grouping clients by the services they receive, their need for continuity and whether someone else can step in.
| Tier | Who | During an emergency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cannot be left alone; depends on powered equipment such as oxygen or a ventilator; no family nearby | Visit or relocate within hours; call 911 or local emergency management if unreachable |
| 2 | Needs daily help with medications, meals, toileting or transfers; has family who can cover a day | Phone check same day; visit within 24 hours |
| 3 | Companion care or a few visits a week; family in the home | Phone check; resume visits when safe |
HHS’s emPOWER Program counts over 4.6 million Medicare beneficiaries living at home who rely on electricity-powered medical equipment or essential services. Note in the care plan whether a client has a battery backup and for how long.
How do you staff when roads close?
Match caregivers to clients by distance, not by the normal schedule. Before storm season, pull a list of which caregivers live within walking distance or a short drive of each Tier 1 client. Decide now how you will pay a caregiver who shelters with a client for 30 hours. See 24-hour shifts and live-in sleep time. Your call-out policy should say what happens when a caregiver cannot reach a client.
How do you keep schedules, records and payroll running?
Keep them off the office computer. Cloud scheduling, a caregiver app that works on any phone and a hosted payroll export mean the office can run from a kitchen table. Keep a printed contact list and client tier list in two cars anyway.
Record every visit, missed visit, welfare call and relocation during the event. File an incident report for anything that went wrong.
How often should you review and drill?
Once a year, plus after every real event. Texas requires an annual internal review and a planned drill of the response phase. The federal home health rule asks for an exercise every year and a full review at least every two years. A tabletop drill works: read a scenario aloud (“ice storm, power out for 36 hours, three caregivers cannot drive”) and walk through the plan client by client.
How Caregiver Scheduling handles this
The map shows every client and every caregiver, so during an event you can see who is closest to a Tier 1 client and dispatch them. Schedules, care notes and messaging live in the cloud and work from any phone, so the office keeps running when the building does not. GPS check-ins record who reached whom and when, and caregivers can message the office from the app. $199/month for up to 10 caregivers or $299/month for up to 50, free for 30 days.
FAQ
Is a non-medical home care agency legally required to have an emergency plan? It depends on the state. Texas and Florida require one for licensed agencies; many others do not. Check your licensing rule.
Do I have to evacuate clients? Usually not. Texas, for example, does not require an agency to transport clients. Your job is to know who is at risk and call emergency services when you cannot reach them.
How often should the plan be updated? At least once a year, and after any real emergency.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check your state’s licensing rules for emergency planning requirements.