Emergency planning sounds dramatic until you realize most of it is just about reducing uncertainty.

When you live alone, emergencies feel heavier not because they are more likely, but because there is no shared mental load. Every “what if” lands on you.

I avoided this topic for a long time because I thought thinking about it would make me anxious. What actually happened was the opposite. Once a few basics were in place, my mind stopped circling. But I had to have an emergency happen before I was forced to sort this out.

Late one evening, I ended up calling 911 for a gallbladder flare that I had never experienced before, so it was pretty terrifying. While I waited on the squad to arrive, so many thoughts raced through my mind.

Unlock the front door. What do I wear? Who will take care of my dogs while I’m gone? Is this a heart attack? I need to send an email to my contractor so they know I won’t be able to work tomorrow. My adult kids need to know. Just a jumbled bunch of thoughts while I was also sick and in pain.

Once diagnosed, they released me to the front door, which was the first time I considered how I would get myself home from the hospital at 3:00 a.m. Spoiler alert: I called Uber. I live in a very rural area. To say I was lucky that Uber was available at that time is an understatement. This was all way more stressful than it needed to be.

To be clear, this article is not about preparing for worst-case scenarios. It is about creating enough structure that your nervous system can relax.

The goal is not control.

The goal is steadiness.

Emergency planning for solo living works best when it is simple. What documents matter? Who knows where the documents are? What information would someone need if they were stepping in briefly?

Anything beyond that can wait.

If this connects to concerns about getting sick specifically, What Happens if You Get Sick and Live Alone? is a good place to start. If the mental weight of planning feels like too much, How to Reduce Mental Load When No One Shares It helps frame it differently.

I created a calm emergency readiness checklist to make this easier to think through without spiraling.

Prepared does not mean paranoid.

It means you can breathe a little easier.

Onward,

Bobbie Kay

If you had to narrow emergency preparedness down to just three things, this is enough. Preparedness is not about anticipating every possible disaster. It is about making sure you are not alone inside the moment when something goes wrong. When you have a plan, a person, and accessible information, you are not unprepared. You are supported.