Denmark’s 3-day emergency supplies: the official checklist

Denmark’s Emergency Management Agency asks households to manage for three days. Its checklist is short and practical: water, food, medicine, a radio that doesn’t need mains power, and both cash and cards.

The official numbers

• Self-reliance: 3 days
• Water: 3 litres per person per day
• Iodine tablets: for people under 40, and pregnant or breastfeeding women

What Danish Emergency Management Agency (Beredskabsstyrelsen) recommends

Gear

• First aid kit (home)
• Flashlight / torch
• Lighter and waterproof matches
• Power bank
• Spare batteries
• Blankets and warm clothing
• Emergency radio
• Iodine tablets (potassium iodide)

Supplies to buy

• Bottled drinking water
• Long-life food (ready to eat)
• Pet food and water
• Candles / tea lights
• Hand sanitiser
• Toilet paper
• Period products / nappies

To arrange

• Personal medication supply
• Cash in small notes and coins

What the authorities advise beyond the kit

• Know what the siren means. Sirens and the S!RENEN phone app are tested at 12:00 on the first Wednesday of May; you don’t need to do anything during the test.
• In a real alarm: go inside, or stay inside, and find information on DR and TV 2. Older advice to close doors, windows and ventilation was dropped because it was too long to remember and not right for every situation.
• Don’t call 112 to ask what is happening. The lines must stay free for emergencies.

Food to keep at home

What the official list says: Food for three days that keeps for a long time and is easy to prepare.

General advice from the official food lists:

• Stock food you already eat, and rotate it: use the oldest first and replace it, so nothing expires unnoticed.
• For 72 hours, choose food that keeps at room temperature and can be eaten without cooking: tins, crispbread, dried fruit, nuts, muesli, long-life milk.
• For a week or longer, add dry staples such as rice, pasta, oats and pulses, plus oil, salt and sugar, and a stove to cook on.
• Dry staples need water to cook: count it in your water stock.
• Store food cool, dry and dark, in airtight containers once opened.
• Allow for babies, special diets, allergies and pets.
• Keep a manual can opener, and throw away tins that are swollen, dented or rusty.

Printable 72-hour food list, combined from official lists. Print it or save it as a PDF.

What other governments add

These appear on most of the 12 official lists we compared, but not on this one:

• Portable gas stove (5 of 12 lists)
• Wet wipes (5 of 12 lists)
• Multitool / pocket knife (5 of 12 lists)

Build your kit

Every item above is in our L1 kit (72 hours). Use the household calculator to get quantities for your household, and download the shopping list for the supplies you’ll buy at the supermarket and pharmacy.

FAQ

How long should an emergency kit last in Denmark? 3 days, according to Danish Emergency Management Agency (Beredskabsstyrelsen).

Do I need to buy a ready-made kit? No. Building your own from the official list is cheaper and you know what’s in it. Our picks cover the gear; the rest comes from the supermarket.

Source: Danish Emergency Management Agency (Beredskabsstyrelsen). Last reviewed: October 2026.