US officials prepare for 'zombie apocalypse'

[MrScorpio]

US officials posted advice on a goverment website about what to do in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Photograph: Javier Galeano/Associated Press

Floods in the Deep South. Homegrown terrorists and al-Qaida. An economy on the brink. So much for Americans to worry about.

Now a top US health official has added a new fear: "Zombie Apocalypse".

The assistant surgeon general, Ali Khan, has posted advice on the website of the government's health and safety agency, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, on how to prepare for Night of the Living Dead popping up in the backyard.

"There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for," Khan writes under the heading Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse. "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."

Khan offers no advice on how best to fight off the Zombie hordes – chainsaw or shotgun? Instead he recommends preparing a survival strategy "to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp".

"You should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan. This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your doorstep," Khan writes.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/19/us-officials-prepare-zombie-apocalypse

[newfie11]

1. LOL!!! n/t

[MrScorpio]

3. Here's the page from the CDC

Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/

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.

A Brief History of Zombies
We’ve all seen at least one movie about flesh-eating zombies taking over (my personal favorite is Resident Evil), but where do zombies come from and why do they love eating brains so much? The word zombie comes from Haitian and New Orleans voodoo origins. Although its meaning has changed slightly over the years, it refers to a human corpse mysteriously reanimated to serve the undead. Through ancient voodoo and folk-lore traditions, shows like the Walking Dead were born.

In movies, shows, and literature, zombies are often depicted as being created by an infectious virus, which is passed on via bites and contact with bodily fluids. Harvard psychiatrist Steven Schlozman wrote a (fictional) medical paper on the zombies presented in Night of the Living Dead and refers to the condition as Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome caused by an infectious agent. The Zombie Survival Guide identifies the cause of zombies as a virus called solanum. Other zombie origins shown in films include radiation from a destroyed NASA Venus probe (as in Night of the Living Dead), as well as mutations of existing conditions such as prions, mad-cow disease, measles and rabies.

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!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

13. I was getting tweets from the Red Cross months ago about preparing for a zombie uprising..

I think that's where it started.

It's true that if you prepare for Zombie hordes properly, then you will also be prepared for flood, earthquake, or other disasters.

and it's funny
:)

[SidDithers]

2. Awesome in so many ways...

kudos to Ali Khan for using zombies to get people thinking about emergency preparedness.

:thumbsup:

Sid

[IndyPragmatist]

7. It was a great idea...in fact, too good of an idea

It was so popular the day it was published that the CDC's website actually crashed because of the volume.

[sarge43]

4. It's official: This country has gone barking mad. n/t

[corkhead]

5. 1st Rule: Cardio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombieland#The_rules

[AsahinaKimi]

6. Alice Abernathy is not worried...

Not in the least...

[MindPilot]

8. Oh god! Where's nadin?!

Now more than ever we need her extensive knowledge and expertise about unnatural disasters and EMT stuff! No doubt she has had extensive training and first hand experience with zombies!

[slackmaster]

10. All she could do is stabilize them until someone comes along with a gun

And shoots them in the head.

[Luciferous]

11. lol

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Actually we don't

But if it gets people to prepare through the use of humor...all for it.

[lunatica]

9. Shoot them in the head

It's the only way.

[RegieRocker]

12. Conspiracy propaganda. Nuts.

[doublethink]

14. Zombie Emergency Alert ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an9MZaJapMI

(turn down your speakers a tad ... irritating buzzer)

[JoeyT]

16. If zombies ever turn up they won't last long.

Not even the really fast 28 days later kind. Too many guns.

The answer to "chainsaw or shotgun" is "Neither". .22 rifle would be my choice. The ammo* is cheap and it's light enough you can carry thousands of rounds in a backpack up a ladder that you can pull up behind you. And the ATF isn't going to come knocking if you buy 10k rounds of .22.

*20 bucks for 525 rounds that weights 4.5 pounds.