Are You Prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse?

When the zombies come, will you know what to do? What supplies should you have on hand? Where should you flee?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been giving the potential for a zombie apocalypse some thought. With a tongue-in-cheek blog post, the CDC, not necessarily known for a sense of humor, has managed to tie a zombie theme into an emergency preparedness theme.

From the CDC Public Health Matters blog:

“There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That’s right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency.”

The blog goes on to give a brief history of zombies in popular culture as a segue into emergency preparedness:

“The rise of zombies in pop culture has given credence to the idea that a zombie apocalypse could happen. In such a scenario zombies would take over entire countries, roaming city streets eating anything living that got in their way. The proliferation of this idea has led many people to wonder “How do I prepare for a zombie apocalypse?”

“Well, we’re here to answer that question for you, and hopefully share a few tips about preparing for real emergencies too!

“So what do you need to do before zombies…or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen?”

So that’s where the CDC gets into the nitty gritty of emergency preparedness, possibly losing some zombie fans in the process. As far as getting attention, the clever strategy apparently worked, because the original blog post generated so many clicks that the CDC blog experienced a crash, prompting the agency to create a copy of the page.

Whether or not folks who clicked on the CDC blog stay to get information on actual emergency preparedness is yet to be seen.

For information on actual emergency preparedness — emergency kits and what to include, evacuation plans, family meeting place, emergency contacts, etc, visit the CDC’s Emergency Preparedness and You.

Image Source: CDC

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Will R.

1:48AM PDT on Sep 25, 2011

We've already got zombies, the cold heartless parasitic politicians. Though some would describe them as evil bloodsucking vampires. But its the shuffling walk, the dead eyes and the smell that gives them away as zombies, except for Boehner and David cameron, theyre vampires.

send a green star

Sir L.

2:42PM PDT on Aug 7, 2011

if the cdc crashed from that, i don't think i have that much faith in them

Jami W.

6:47PM PDT on May 30, 2011

DUDE this has got to be one of the cooler things i've read today i love it

oh and i heard that zombies were blind and had no sense of pain or anything but they could hear pretty well

Robert O.

11:31AM PDT on May 28, 2011

That's a very interesting idea. Emergency preparedness is very important since wde may not be as prepared as we could be, though there are many things in life that can't be prepared for even though we think we're ready for them.

We also have some other zombies here that instead of subscribing to live and let live the feel the need to point out everything wrong with what other people post (ahem, clara H.). I'm not one of those people but am doing it this time to remind certain people to stop acting holier than thou.

clara H.

3:58PM PDT on May 23, 2011

I know we have some zombies on this site. All they do is post thanks for the info and don't really comment on here.

Victoria B.

11:58AM PDT on May 23, 2011

I thought we were living in a Zombie Apocolypse now ! Seriously, have you had a closer look at those around you? Oooh scary .................

Judith H.

5:23AM PDT on May 23, 2011

Well in the case of the CDC, it would take a zombie(s) to know a zombie.

Manuela C.

5:09AM PDT on May 23, 2011

LOL, I guess some people really stopped to read the post and learn something about it!

I Care F.

2:09AM PDT on May 22, 2011

The zombie invasion may be a clever idea as a way of preparing for a disaster, but only if people don't use it to feed society's propensity for us-them story telling, and instead calmly and enjoyability work together to set up those preparations out of love for one another.

AND THIS IS WHAT WE'LL HAVE TO FIGHT TO ACHIEVE WORKING TOGETHER .!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXYjsiTkHiA&feature=BFa&list=PL1E411232E35F22C5&index=1

Adam G.

1:43AM PDT on May 22, 2011

aawwwwww... I was so looking forward to the zombie apocalypse too :(
damn those nutty xian preachers & their false prophesies!!