What should be on a child's emergency contact card?

The child's name and the name they answer to, two contacts in order with their relationship, one line for anything that changes what a responder does, the doctor's number, and roughly where the child usually is.

What should you leave off an emergency card?

Your full home address, door or alarm codes, where keys are kept, and long medical history. A card can be dropped or picked up by anyone, so write it assuming a stranger who is not helping will read it.

Where should you keep it?

In the bag that travels, with a second copy where a carer will stand, and a photo on your own phone so you can read it out if you are not there.

Free guide and printable

An emergency contact card for your child

An emergency card is read by someone who is worried, in a hurry, and possibly not you. That makes it a different document from a handover sheet: shorter, blunter, and deliberately missing some things. Here is what to put on it, what to leave off, and a printable card to fill in.

What belongs on the card

The child's name, and what they answer toThe name on the card should be the name someone would use to speak to them. If they are Elizabeth on paper and Lily everywhere else, put both.
Two people, in orderYou first, then someone else who will pick up. Give the relationship, not just the name — “Mum” and “Aunt, lives nearby” tell a stranger far more than two bare numbers.
Anything that changes what a responder doesA severe allergy, a condition, a regular medicine. One line each. This is the part that earns the card its place in a bag.
The doctor or clinicName and number. Nobody remembers it under pressure, and it is the first thing anyone else will ask for.
Where the child usually isHome area, and school or nursery if relevant. Enough to orient someone, not enough to be an address book.

What to leave off

A card can be dropped, left in a pocket or picked up by anyone. Write it assuming it will be read by a stranger who is not helping.

Your full home address. A found card should not tell a stranger where an unattended house is.
Door codes, alarm codes or key locations. Those belong in a private handover, not on paper in a coat.
Anything sensitive that does not change what someone would do in the moment.
A long medical history. One line that matters beats a paragraph nobody reads.

Printable emergency card

Child

Name, and the name they answer toAge or date of birth

Contact first

Parent name, relationship and numberSecond contact, relationship and number

Important to know

Allergies — one line (write “none” if none)Condition or regular medicine — one line

Doctor

Name of practice and number

In an emergency

Ring your local emergency number first, then the parent

This is a blank template: once you fill it in, keeping it accurate is on you, and a printed sheet is believed long after it stops being true. Care Handover generates the same thing from a plan you have approved, so it cannot silently go out of date — and your carer sees what is happening now rather than what was true when you printed it.

Where to keep it

In the bag that actually travels — the changing bag, the school bag, the buggy.
A second copy where the sitter will stand: by the kettle, on the fridge.
A photo of it on your own phone, so you can read it out if you are not there.
Check it every few months. An out-of-date card is worse than none, because it will be believed.

A card that cannot go out of date

The trouble with a printed card is that it is believed long after it stops being true. Care Handover keeps the same details in a private link your carer opens on their phone, alongside the routine for the day — and still gives you a printable emergency card for the bag, generated from what you approved rather than what you wrote last spring.

See a live example More free guides

Common questions

What should be on a child's emergency contact card?: The child's name and the name they answer to, two contacts in order with their relationship, one line for anything that changes what a responder does, the doctor's number, and roughly where the child usually is.
What should you leave off an emergency card?: Your full home address, door or alarm codes, where keys are kept, and long medical history. A card can be dropped or picked up by anyone, so write it assuming a stranger who is not helping will read it.
Where should you keep it?: In the bag that travels, with a second copy where a carer will stand, and a photo on your own phone so you can read it out if you are not there.

What to write in your babysitter notesThe note you leave on the counter — what to put in it, in the order a sitter reads it.
Allergy and medication information for a carerHow to write down what your doctor told you so a sitter can follow it exactly.
Leaving your child with a sitter for the first timeWhat to cover before the first time, and what is worth saying out loud at the door.
Babysitter information sheetEverything a sitter needs in one sheet, with a free printable template.
Leaving your child with grandparents overnightWhat to say before the first overnight, including what to do at 2am.
Babysitting siblings with different routinesBriefing a sitter for two or more children whose evenings collide.
Questions to ask a babysitter before you hire themWhat to ask before you leave your child with someone, and what the answers tell you.
What to tell a wedding or hotel babysitterThe hardest handover: a sitter you have not met, in a room your child does not know.

This guide helps you organise your own information; it is not medical or safeguarding advice. In an emergency, ring your local emergency number — 112 or 999 in Ireland, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US.