Checklist L3 · 3 months Event · Household medical emergency

Household medical 3-month system

A 3-month medical readiness system — deep prescription buffers, advanced first-aid capability, and the household care routines that bridge to a long supply gap.

Three months of medical readiness is the system that survives a supply-chain disruption, a regional health emergency, or a long stretch where the household cannot easily reach pharmacies or providers. The 2-week plan handles the bad weekend; the 3-month system handles the bad quarter. The work is deeper prescription buffers, advanced first-aid capability, training that has actually happened, and household-level care routines that run without external systems.

The load-bearing domains

What this combination actually depends on

Every event–duration combination weights the nine domains differently. Here are the two or three that decide the outcome for this one.

Health & First Aid

Care when help is far.

Three months of medication buffer and supplies for any household medical equipment. Depth and duration together.

The health & first aid domain →

Skills

Knowledge that travels.

Three-month readiness is when the kit is matched by skills — wound care, basic dental, infection management, mental health support.

The skills domain →

Documents & Finance

Paper trails matter.

A current binder per household member, telehealth pre-authorized, specialist relationships kept warm. Documentation runs the long-duration plan.

The documents & finance domain →

The 3 months list

Check items off as you go. Progress is stored in your browser only — nothing is uploaded. Hit Print for a clean paper copy or Reset to start over.

0items complete

90-day mail-order prescription bufferSwitch chronic-care medications to mail-order with 90-day fills. Refill at 60 days remaining. Build the buffer over a few cycles; maintain it indefinitely.
A 90-day supply of household medical equipment consumablesCPAP filters and water, ostomy supplies, insulin pump infusion sets, oxygen concentrator filters, glucose test strips. The 90-day buffer is the safe floor; mail-order plus a refill calendar keeps it.
An advanced trauma + first-aid kit, full inventoryTourniquet, Israeli bandage, hemostatic gauze, chest seal, CPR mask, suture kit, butterfly closures, irrigation syringe, prescription antibiotics if available, wound care for infections, splints, slings. Three months of household medical events without immediate provider access is the planning scenario.
Stop-the-Bleed and basic life support training, currentStop-the-Bleed (free, 90 minutes), Basic Life Support (Red Cross, 4 hours), Wilderness First Aid (16 hours, biannual refresh). Three months is the duration that justifies real training, not just supplies.
A medical binder per household member, updated quarterlyConditions, medications, allergies, surgeries, immunizations, insurance, providers, emergency contacts. Quarterly update on a calendar reminder. Hard copy in a fireproof bag, digital copy in cloud, summary card in every wallet.
A telehealth + on-call provider relationshipTelehealth on the insurance plan, set up and tested. A direct-primary-care or concierge relationship with a local provider, for households that can afford it, is the upgrade — a single phone call to a doctor who knows the household, available 24/7.
Dental supplies for 90 days, plus a dental triage kitThree months without a dentist needs cavity-temporary-filling kits (Dentemp), pain management, and the supplies to handle a knocked-out tooth or a broken crown. Dental emergencies during disruptions are common and miserable.
A 90-day mental-health support planThree months of stress without normal support systems wears down households. Medication continuity for anyone on antidepressants or anxiolytics, telehealth therapy options, exercise routines that run without gyms, and a family check-in cadence.
A pediatric care kit and reference, if applicableChildren's dosages, fever protocols, basic croup and ear-infection management, pediatric-sized first-aid supplies, a pediatric first-aid reference book. Three months without pediatric care access is a planning scenario.

Your progress is saved in this browser only — nothing is uploaded. Clear it any time with Reset, or hit Print for a clean paper copy.

Common questions

Questions that come up

How do I get a 90-day prescription buffer?

Most insurance plans support 90-day fills for chronic medications through mail-order pharmacy (Express Scripts, CVS Caremark, OptumRx). Ask your prescriber to write 90-day prescriptions; switch the maintenance medications to mail-order; refill when you have 60 days remaining. After three cycles you have built a permanent 90-day buffer that maintains itself.

What does Stop-the-Bleed training cover and is it worth it?

Stop-the-Bleed is a 60–90 minute free course covering severe bleeding control: direct pressure, wound packing with gauze, and tourniquet application. It is taught by certified instructors through hospitals, fire departments, and community groups. It is the single highest-return medical training a household can take — the techniques save lives and the time investment is one evening. Find a course at stopthebleed.org.

Should I keep antibiotics on hand for emergencies?

It is medically reasonable to have a small reserve of broad-spectrum antibiotics for severe infection scenarios in extended emergencies, but obtaining and using them correctly is the hard part. Talk to your prescriber about an emergency-only prescription, learn the indications (wound infections, severe respiratory infections), and understand that misuse drives resistance. Veterinary fish antibiotics are the wrong answer; a prescribed reserve with provider guidance is the right one.

Working on household medical emergency?

Get the starter pack — in your inbox.

The 72-hour starter pack PDF, plus one new piece every other Sunday. We focus on the household medical emergency scenarios households actually face — sized to where you are on the ladder.

The 72-hour starter pack PDF, immediately.
Follow-ups that track household medical emergency and related events as they come up.
No upsells, no data sold, one-click unsubscribe.

One newsletter every other Sunday. No spam. No selling your data. Unsubscribe any time.

Same event, different scope

Other household medical emergency durations

Same scope, different event

The 3-month version for other events

Run the numbers

How much water and food, exactly, for this duration

The list above tells you what to stock. The calculators below tell you how much — sized to your household and this duration.

Go deeper