My husband’s first deployment was 15 months young. Out of all his deployments, that one was the worst and the longest.
I was a “milspouse deployment virgin”. I was scared for him, scared for my kids, and myself. Worst of all, I already suffered from severe anxiety and depression. My anxiety magnified my already strong fears and made me a nervous wreck.
My 3 Biggest Fears
—The idea that I would pass out or something would happen to me, and no one would know how to contact my family.
—I was also fearful that my kids would end up with someone they didn’t know until my husband could be reached.
—And, even if my spouse wasn’t deployed; what if something happened to us while the kids were in school? Was I overthinking? Possibly! But stuff happens!
I had heard a few horror stories about similar things happening to military spouses. In some instances children were temporarily sent to emergency foster care until immediate family could be located.
A Solution To My Fears
After many months of worrying and working through my somewhat “melodramatic” feelings, I felt the best thing to do was come up with some sort of solution to soothe me. That’s when I created my own emergency contact document. I was pretty young at the time and not as aware of all the things I needed to know. So, I created a simple document that listed who to contact in an emergency, an email account with some passwords, and our medical history.
Printable Military Family Emergency Binder
Since I have been blogging at ArmyWife101 for over a decade, I have learned a thing or two about being prepared and how to make stressful situations easier. That’s why I decided to create a downloadable printable set of forms that allows you to create your own “Military Family Emergency Binder“.
This 8.5×11 set is available on Etsy in our Milspired Mil Lifestyle Shop, and comes with 22 printable forms in all including:
—Military Family Contact Sheet
—Military Family Emergency Info Sheet
—SGLI/FSGLI MILITARY INSURANCE INFO
—Military Housing Info Sheet
—Military Family Medical Info Sheet
—Medication List
—Document Location List
—Password Tracker List
—Final Wishes Service Member
—Final Wishes Spouse
— Additional Notes Sheets
In one binder you can essentially create an “in case of emergency” plan to for your family. Albeit a bit morbid and not the easiest thing to discuss, I promise you will feel a weird sense of relief. Also, if you have a spouse who may not be familiar with all the household affairs, this will come in handy.
This is a great asset to any military couple who is facing the realities of a deployment, and want to make sure all their bases are covered.
The best part is you can add additional forms to this and customize it for your family’s needs. Additionally, our military family emergency binder printables can be reprinted over and over again for updating when your military situation changes, or as you PCS.
We’ve also created a free one sheet emergency form specific to military families. This is perfect
How To Use Your Downloadables Printables:
You can print your downloadable out at home or take them to your local Staples or Kinko’s to have them printed and binded.
Another option is to print at home, punch holes, and insert into a binder like this one.
*PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE DOWNLOADS TO PRINT. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANYTHING IN THE MAIL WHEN YOU PURCHASE THE BINDER.”
Get Printable Military Family Binder HERE
Get FREE Military Emergency Contact Sheet HERE
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Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market.
She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.