The Emergency Information Every Caregiver Needs Before They're Alone With Your Child

Emergencies do not announce themselves. They happen during the first babysitter shift, at grandma's house over the holidays, in the middle of a nanny's regular Tuesday. The caregiver who responds well is not the one who happens to know what to do — she is the one who has the right information in front of her.

This guide covers the emergency information every caregiver needs before they are alone with your child. Not just the obvious categories — but the ones most parents forget, and the organizational decisions that determine whether the information is actually usable in a crisis.

The primary rule: information that cannot be found quickly might as well not exist

A caregiver under stress does not have time to search. If the allergy information is in an email from three months ago, she will not find it. If the pediatrician's number is in a note app she cannot remember the name of, she will not find it. If the emergency protocol is on page 4 of a packet she left on the kitchen counter, she will not find it.

Emergency information must be immediately accessible — on her phone, organized so the critical information is at the top.

Medical emergency contacts

This is the most commonly incomplete category. Most parents provide their cell phone. That leaves multiple critical gaps:

• Your primary mobile — always first
• Your partner's or co-parent's mobile — because you might be in a meeting, driving, or out of range
• A local backup — someone who can physically be there in 15 minutes. A neighbor, sibling, nearby family member. Someone who can make decisions if the caregiver cannot reach you.
• Pediatrician — office line and after-hours or on-call line. Note that after-hours pediatric lines can answer questions that prevent unnecessary ER visits.
• Poison Control — 1-800-222-1222 in the US. Should be on every list. This number exists so caregivers do not have to guess whether something is dangerous.
• Nearest emergency room — address, not just "the hospital." In an emergency, she may not know which hospital or how far it is.
• Your location tonight — venue name and address. If she cannot reach you by phone, she can send someone to get you.

Authorization to seek medical care

This is the category most parents do not think about until it is too late.

In many states and hospital systems, a non-parent caregiver cannot consent to medical treatment for a child without documented authorization from a parent or legal guardian. In a genuine emergency, hospitals will treat the child — but for non-life-threatening situations requiring stitches, imaging, or medication, authorization matters.

Write and sign a medical authorization statement that your caregiver carries (or has access to digitally). At minimum it should include:

• Your name and your child's name
• The caregiver's name
• Authorization to consent to emergency medical treatment
• Your contact information
• Your signature (notarized copies are sometimes required — check your state's requirements)

For a nanny or regular caregiver, a standing medical authorization is worth formalizing. For a one-night babysitter, a written and signed note may be sufficient — check local requirements.

Allergy emergency protocols

For children with severe or life-threatening allergies, the emergency protocol needs to be explicit and the tools need to be accessible:

• What allergens are life-threatening
• Where the EpiPen is located (exact location, not "in a bag")
• When to use it — what symptoms require immediate EpiPen use
• The sequence: EpiPen first, then 911, then call parents — or whatever your family's protocol is
• What happens after EpiPen use — she must take the child to the ER even if the reaction appears to resolve

Condition-specific protocols

For each chronic condition your child has, the caregiver needs a protocol for what to do if it activates:

• Asthma — what does an attack look like? When does she use the rescue inhaler? When does she call 911?
• Seizure disorder — what does a seizure look like for this child? What to do during (positioning, timing, do not restrain). When to call 911 (usually after 5 minutes or second seizure).
• Diabetes — signs of hypoglycemia, what to give, when to call for help
• Severe anxiety or behavioral condition — what does a crisis look like? What works? What makes it worse?

Do not assume she knows the general protocol for a condition. Give her the specific protocol for your child.

Basic house emergency information

Often forgotten in favor of medical information, but important:

• Home address (exact, including apartment number) — a 911 call from an unfamiliar house is impacted by the caregiver not knowing the address
• Location of fire extinguisher
• Location of first aid kit
• Any exits from the house that may be less obvious
• Whether there are pets that might behave unpredictably in an emergency
• Any physical safety concerns about the home (pool, stairs, unlocked doors to hazardous areas)

Organizing emergency information for actual use

The format matters as much as the content. Emergency information that is not immediately scannable in a stressful moment is not useful.

• Life-threatening allergy information should be at the top of any list — not buried
• Emergency contacts should be tap-to-call on a mobile device, not typed out in a way that requires manual dialing
• Protocols should be written in plain language with explicit steps — not clinical descriptions
• The information should be accessible on her phone, not on a piece of paper she might leave behind

Baton Pass is organized around these constraints. Every caregiver view puts life-threatening allergies first in red, emergency contacts as tap-to-call buttons, and medication stop-indicators for anything that requires a call before administering. The format is designed for the moment when the caregiver is scared and moving fast.

The conversation before the shift

Even with written information, do a verbal walkthrough for any new caregiver:

• Point to the EpiPen. "This is where it is."
• "If she says her throat is itchy or tight, that is serious. Call me immediately."
• "If you cannot reach me, call my partner's number, then my neighbor Sarah."
• "The home address is on the fridge."

The verbal confirmation anchors the information in a way that written materials alone do not. Do both.