Community Corner

Get Ready For Zombie Apocalypse, Other Disasters

Centers for Disease Control tells how to prepare for zombie takeover and offers advice on natural disaster preparedness.

Each year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is faced with the task of getting the word out about how to prepare for natural disasters, like hurricanes and tornadoes. This year, CDC is getting a little help spreading the word from the undead.

In a blog post by Assistant Surgeon General Ali Khan, readers are told that if zombies did start roaming the streets – like in a scene from Night of the Living Dead – CDC would conduct an investigation like it would for any other disease outbreak.

“Not only would scientists be working to identify the cause and cure of the zombie outbreak, but CDC and other federal agencies would send medical teams and first responders to help those in affected areas (I will be volunteering the young nameless disease detectives for the field work),” Khan wrote.

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The CDC communications staff came up with the idea for a zombie campaign, after a staff member noticed an upsurge in Twitter traffic when zombies were mentioned during a Twitter session on Japan and radiation, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But the real purpose of the campaign is to get people thinking about what they should do in a natural disaster.

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The CDC advises that each home have an emergency kit that includes: one gallon of water per person, food, medications, tools and supplies, sanitation annd hygiene items, clothing and bedding, important documents and first aid supplies.

The CDC also suggests people consider what types of emergencies might occur where they live, pick a meeting place for your family to regroup, make a list of emergency contacts, and plan an evacuation route.


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