With a few cases flesh eating virus popping up, a man eating another man’s face in Miami and a New Jersey man throwing his own intestines at police officers, loose talk of a coming zombie apocalypse has exploded in recent days.
The stories have made some wonder whether to take seriously survival tips gleaned from zombie movies and the popular TV show “The Walking Dead.” The Internet is buzzing about zombies, the apocalypse and emergency preparedness.
Some may be surprised to find that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website features a section dedicated to Zombie Preparedness. While this will likely be seen by many users as the joke that it is, the fact that the CDC website even has such a web page has to make you wonder.
Closer inspection finds that the CDC is informing people to treat a zombie apocalypse pretty much like any other emergency. They list some pretty basic instructions with slightly comical commentary randomly tossed in. For example, on the list of items you’d need:
First Aid Supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane)
The same shtick is applied to emergency plans. In the event you have to make a run for it:
Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take ahead of time so that the flesh eaters don’t have a chance! This is also helpful when natural disasters strike and you have to take shelter fast.
The CDC goes on to explain exactly how they’d investigate a zombie invasion and what they’d try to learn in order to stop one, though of course no such thing could possibly happen, right?
For more information: http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm
