If someone in your home depends on powered medical equipment
Register with your utility now
Ready.gov says you can ask your power provider to put you on a list for priority power restoration. Call the number on your bill and ask how it works there. At FirstEnergy, for example, a physician signs a form every year, the company phones the household when an outage may last more than 24 hours, and the list goes to county and municipal emergency management offices. Being on a list is not a promise of faster restoration — FirstEnergy says it cannot guarantee that, and that life-support customers need a contingency plan such as a battery backup. National Grid adds that in a medical emergency you should always dial 911, whether or not you are on file with it.
Know the federal resources
The HHS emPOWER Program works at the community level: it gives public health authorities federal data and tools, built from Medicare claims data, to protect at-risk Medicare beneficiaries who rely on electricity-dependent medical and assistive equipment. In an emergency, a public health authority can request its restricted outreach dataset — limited individual details such as name and address — which, HHS says, has been used to rapidly identify, locate and voluntarily evacuate at-risk people. It is built from Medicare's records, so it does not replace telling your utility and your local emergency managers yourself.
Plan the power itself
Talk to your doctor or health care provider about what you may be able to do to keep the equipment running during a power outage, as Ready.gov advises, and ask the device's supplier about battery backup runtime and spares; Idaho Power suggests a contingency plan with your medical supply company or home health agency. The Red Cross's outage checklist puts backup batteries and chargers for devices such as a CPAP or wheelchair in the go-kit. If a generator is part of the plan, Idaho Power advises having an expert install it and learning to use it safely before you need it — and read our generator-safety guide first.
During an outage
Check your area's restoration outlook early — the decision to relocate (family, a facility, a shelter with power) is easier made at hour one than hour six, and the Red Cross says to evacuate if you have medical devices that need power. Ready.gov adds a rule for medicine: if the power is out for more than a day, discard any medication that should be refrigerated unless the drug's label says otherwise, and consult your doctor or pharmacist immediately for a new supply. If you depend on electric life-support equipment and have no backup power, Idaho Power tells customers to go somewhere that has power, take the medical equipment and medications with them, and call 911 if a life is in danger.
Write the device plan down
One page, on the fridge: each device, its battery runtime, where spares and chargers live, the supplier's phone number, and the fallback location with power (family, friend, facility). Ready.gov's kit list adds the style and serial number of each medical device, with special instructions for operating the equipment if needed. Write it before storm season, not during the outage.
Practice the switchover
Batteries that have never been used have a way of disappointing. Before storm season: run the device on its backup power briefly (per the manufacturer's instructions), confirm alarms and charge indicators are understood by everyone in the home, and date-check consumables. Set a calendar reminder to re-check each season.
Make yourself findable
Create a support network of people who can help you in a disaster, as Ready.gov puts it: tell neighbors, family and building management that the home depends on powered equipment, and agree on a check-in trigger ("if the power's out more than an hour, call"). Ready.gov also notes that many city and county emergency management agencies keep voluntary registries where people with disabilities can self-identify to receive targeted help in emergencies — ask yours. Dialing 211 reaches a local information and referral line; 211.org counts more than 200 211 agencies across the United States that help people find local resources and services.
The kit, medical edition
Alongside the general outage kit, Ready.gov's list for people with disabilities adds a list of your prescription medicines with your diagnosis, dosage, frequency, medical supply needs and allergies; extra eyeglasses, contacts, hearing aids and batteries; a backup supply of oxygen; and, if you use a power wheelchair, a lightweight manual chair as a backup if possible. The Red Cross adds a one-month supply of medication. Work out a cooler plan for refrigerated medication with your pharmacist ahead of time — these are the items you can't improvise at hour six.
In a long outage, escalate early
Don't wait to be sure. If runtime math says the battery dies before the lights return, act while you still have margin — family or a facility with power, 211 for local resources, your local emergency management agency if it keeps a registry. The Red Cross's advice is to plan how and when you will evacuate safely to maintain needs such as power-dependent medical devices. And the line from above bears repeating: a life in danger is a 911 call, whether or not you're on your utility's list.
Outages are exactly when scams circulate
After big storms, the FTC warns, scammers pose as the utility, and their messages may even promise to restore your service faster if you pay or give them your information — they won't. Don't respond to an unexpected call, text or email; contact the utility using the number on your bill or its website. Never pay anyone who demands payment by money transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency: your utility won't ask you to pay any of those ways. Put this in the written plan too, for whoever answers the phone.
This page is planning info, not medical advice
Care decisions belong with your clinician and the device manufacturer. Our contribution is the outage side: live status, restoration estimates when the data supports them, and free alerts for your county or city.
- Ready.gov — People with disabilities (emergency planning)
- Ready.gov — Power outages
- HHS emPOWER program
- HHS emPOWER — Frequently asked questions
- FirstEnergy — If you lose power (medical support)
- National Grid — Life-sustaining equipment
- Idaho Power — Outage tips for vulnerable populations
- Red Cross — Power outage safety
- Red Cross — Power outage safety checklist (PDF)
- 211.org — About 211
- FTC — Avoid weather-related utility scams (Jan. 2026)