Stanford
Office of Accessible Education
A Student Leader extinguishes a fire at Safety Academy.

Emergency Preparedness Tips

College life is busy — but being prepared matters. This page shares simple steps you can take now so you know what to do and where to go if an emergency happens on or near campus.

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Emergency Preparedness Tips for Students with Disabilities

Be CardinalReady by planning in advance for a wide range of emergency situations. Emergencies can happen at any time and without warning. For people with disabilities, there are often additional considerations that should be kept in mind. The following are suggestions for how students with disabilities can become better prepared for emergencies:

  1. Register or update your personal contact information with AlertSU (axess.stanford.edu).
  2. Program Stanford's emergency hotline (650.725.5555) into your cell phone.
  3. Create an emergency kit by packing items in a large backpack and/or bags you can easily carry or roll. Be sure to keep it in an easy-to-access location that you would be able to access in a crisis (by a door or window, near your bed, etc). Your kit should contain:
    • A change of clothes for up to a week and personal hygiene items.
    • Water bottle/container and non-perishable food
    • Always keep a 3-5 day supply of prescription medications and/or eye care supplies (contact solution, eye drops, extra glasses). Make a list of all of your prescription names and dosages and keep in your emergency kit.
    • Extra cell phone charger or battery pack.
    • Back-up power units/inverters for medical equipment and electronic equipment.
    • Battery-powered radio, extra batteries, and a flashlight.
    • Don’t forget your ESA’s or service animal’s needs: Include food, water, medications, leash, and harness. Look into collapsable travel crate and/or a portable/collapsable cat pan with litter.
  4. Label your adaptive equipment with your current contact information.
  5. Keep your SUID, important papers, and cards in an accessible place or copy them (on paper or electronically on a thumb-drive) for your emergency kit. Bring your driver’s license, passport, health insurance cards, legal documents (birth certificates, social security cards, will, vehicle registration and ownership papers, marriage/divorce papers, etc.), financial records (bank accounts, credit/debit cards, government benefits, retirement and investment statements, tax returns), and copies of your insurance policies.
  6. Keep some amount of cash on hand at all times in case power is out in the area and ATM’s are not available.
  7. Be prepared to grab your laptop and peripherals or back up your data on a cloud, disk, or external drive to be stored somewhere safe, ahead of time, so you won't have to rush to do it later.

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