CDC has zombie contingency plan?!?!
A post on the health agency’s blog titled “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse” went viral this week, causing the blog’s servers to temporarily crash. The blog normally gets 1,000 to 3,000 hits per day, said CDC spokesperson Dave Daigle. Before the page went down on Wednesday (May 18), the post had garnered 30,000 hits. As of Thursday morning, 55,000 people had clicked on the post.
“We did not anticipate this type of reaction,” Daigle told LiveScience.
Nor have Daigle and his CDC colleagues gone off the deep end. The zombie post is a tongue-in-check way to promote real disaster preparedness.
“If you’re prepared for the zombie apocalypse, you’re also prepared for hurricanes and flooding,” Daigle said.
So what do you need in case of an attack by zombie hordes, according to the CDC post? An emergency kit stocked with 1 gallon of water per person per day, as well as non-perishable food, important documents and first-aid supplies. You’ll also want a plan: A place for family members to meet in case of emergencies and an evacuation route to steer you clear of brain-craving zombies (or floodwaters, as the case may be).
Daigle said the zombie post has been a success, garnering media attention and publicity for preparedness. The agency plans to do a follow-up evaluation to see if the zombie-themed message prompted people to take action on real-life emergency plans. One thing the agency won’t do, though, is suggest the best way to eliminate the zombie menace.
“We’ll let the law enforcement folks make recommendations about weapons and chainsaws and guns,” Daigle said. “We don’t have that in our plan.”
http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp
The Desk of Brian recommends:
Nodding disease: What’s happening to the children of North Uganda?
Massachusetts health officials announce first case of human rabies in 75 years
India’s major milestone: one-year polio free
US Post Office loses $5.1 billion: imminent default?
Travelers warned about malaria in Greece
Michael Nabil Sanad, Christian blogger in Egypt, sent to Mental Hospital
San Diego mail carriers train to deliver life saving antibiotics in case of anthrax attack
New HIV infections hold steady at 50,000, MSM is one exception
[...] CDC created a similar stir last year when they published a Zombie Apocalypse preparation list and contingency plan. Check out The Global Dispatch Facebook page [...]
brilliant…and funny
Exactly. If anything, it shows how cultural-savvy at least one branch of the U.S. government is.
we’re living in the digital age. Would you click on a link that just says “emergency preparedness”? Would you share it with your friends? How about an official government link about “zombie apocalypse emergency preparedness”? It’s a tongue-in-cheek way of getting the average internet surfer to think about emergency preparedness and get some information they might otherwise ignore. It’s humor serving a serious purpose.
Because now a million people who’ll click on anything that says “zombie” know that the CDC has a really useful website – people who didn’t before.
I agree. The people it targeted are probably the people who would otherwise be worst off and least prepared in emergency situations other than “advice” found in zombie movies.
stupid people won’t pay attention to a sober blog and his job is to prepare everyone. I think it has been highly effective.