This is one of the graphics from the CDC's campaign about building emergency kits, particularly for the zombie apocalypse.
The zombie threat is finally getting some open attention from a heavy-hitting arm of the U.S. government’s Health and Human Services department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Zombie preparedness experts may chide the CDC for breaking its silence in such a lighthearted way:
“The rise of zombies in pop culture has given credence to the idea that a zombie apocalypse could happen…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!”
After all, the most popular survival guides smack of high-level CDC expertise, and at least one Washington insider hints that the public health organization has made an internal decision to utilize pop culture as the primary vehicle for educating American citizens about the threat. Policy strategists point out that this approach carries compelling advantages, such as keeping the masses calm, allowing the production of survival supplies to keep up with growing demand, and “just making things fun.”
So there’s no doubt that the situation could be treated more seriously, particularly by the CDC, but I’ll get in their corner and say that the CDC zombie blog is an important step in disaster preparedness. As Dr. Ali S. Khan, Rear Admiral to the Surgeon General points out, the zombie apocalypse would have a lot in common with disasters we are familiar with, such as hurricanes, floods and tornadoes. This means that some of the initial steps in preparing your family for the zombie apocalypse look just like the preparatory steps for any emergency.
The CDC zombie blog entry deals with short term survival measures designed to keep you alive for the first few days. Apocalypse experts will jump to point out that you’ll die without the right skills and basic plans for the long term, but I submit that the first few days are critical, too. You may know how to weaponize anything made by IKEA, how to make night lights out of pickles before you eat them, and what to borrow from Radio Shack to make your own solar-powered hydroelectric generator. Those are great skills to have. But none of that is going to matter if your family gets eaten on day one due to a poorly-chosen rendezvous point. Which is far less likely to happen if you follow the CDC’s advice and plan your evacuation route ahead of time.
So keep working on those hard core survival skills, but do yourself a favor and take care of the easy stuff, too. Click on the picture above and use the CDC zombie blog to get your disaster kit ready. It might be the last time they can help you…
Comentarios