Household Readiness
Prepare · Skill 07 of 08

Prepare for 3 Days

Three days is the standard first goal in official household guidance: enough water, food, light, information, first aid and a plan to get through roughly seventy-two hours without normal services. It is a training target, not a guarantee about any real event.

9 minVerified guidanceOffline
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Three days is the first honest target. Most households are closer to it than they think.

What You'll Learn
  • Understand why three days is the standard first target
  • Check each of your six readiness areas against it
  • Turn the biggest gap into one concrete action this week
  • Know that reaching the target is progress, not safety insurance
What You'll Need
  • What you've already recorded
    Standard
    Your Water Plan, Power Plan, My Pantry and readiness answers.
    Low cost
    Free — it's already in the app.
    Already have
    Nothing to enter again.
  • A short written list
    Standard
    One page recording where each area currently stands.
    Low cost
    A card.
    Already have
    Add it to your household plan card.
  • One shopping slot
    Standard
    Your normal weekly shop.
    Low cost
    No special trip needed.
    Already have
    The one you're already doing.
Safety

Reaching a three-day target is training progress — it is not a guarantee of safety in any real emergency. Always follow official local instructions, and evacuate immediately when told to, regardless of how well stocked you are. Only stored drinking water and properly treated water count as drinking water; never drink floodwater or water that may be chemically contaminated, and boiling or filtering does not make chemically contaminated water safe. Never use a generator, camping stove, barbecue or any fuel-burning appliance indoors or in a garage.

Verified guidance · Ready.gov (FEMA) — Build A Kit

Step By Step
  1. 01Set the water numberOfficial household guidance uses about one gallon (roughly four litres) per person per day for drinking and basic hygiene, for at least three days. For three people that's about nine gallons. Your Water Plan already holds your target and what you've stored — open it rather than recalculating.
  2. 02Check food against three daysThree days of meals your household eats, that need no refrigeration, and that could be eaten without cooking if it came to that. Your Pantry list already tells you what's on the shelf.
  3. 03Check lightA working light source per person, or at minimum one per floor plus spare batteries. Battery lighting only — never candles.
  4. 04Check charging and informationOne charged power bank, a radio that runs without mains power, and your frequency card. That covers three days of knowing what's going on.
  5. 05Check first aid and medicationBasic supplies you know how to use, plus at least three days of any regular medication in its original packaging. If a repeat prescription runs close to empty, talk to your pharmacy about keeping a small buffer.
  6. 06Check the plan and the peopleMeeting spots, out-of-area contact, and the specific needs of anyone in the household — young children, older relatives, anyone with mobility, medical or dietary needs, and pets.
  7. 07Name the single biggest gapOne gap. Not six. Whichever area is furthest from three days is the one that changes your week most.
  8. 08Turn it into one action this weekBuy nine gallons of water. Or buy four extra tins. Or charge the power bank and put it by the door. One action, done, beats six planned.
  9. 09Record where you got toRetake the Quick Readiness Check so Prepare reflects today, and mark this skill learned.

Verified guidance · Ready.gov (FEMA) — Build A Kit

What To Look For
  • Water measured in actual containers, not estimated
  • Food that needs no cooking if there's no safe way to cook
  • Medication counted in days, not 'we've got some'
Common Mistakes
  • Treating three days as a finish line rather than a first step
  • Counting untreated water — rainwater, a stream, a pool — as drinking water. It isn't, until it's properly treated
  • Counting food that needs an hour of simmering with no power
  • Trying to buy all six areas in one weekend and giving up
When To Get Help

If your household depends on powered medical equipment, dialysis, refrigerated medication or regular care visits, three days of supplies is not a plan on its own. Speak to the healthcare provider, the equipment supplier and your utility's medical-needs programme, and agree in advance where the person would go.

Worth Knowing
  • Water is the area most households underestimate by the widest margin
  • One gallon per person per day includes hygiene, not only drinking
  • If you get to three days comfortably, the next lesson extends it to seven