It's Zombie Preparedness Month
This morning Governor Brownback proclaimed October to be Zombie Preparedness Month. “If you’re prepared for zombies, you’re prepared for anything,” said Brownback. The proclamation is to remind Kansans that they need to be prepared in the event of any emergency be it a natural disaster or a zombie apocalypse.
Though it's unlikely an actual zombie outbreak will happen it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. In actuality if you're prepared to bunker down for a zombie apocalypse you'll be prepared to handle many of the actual emergency's that happen throughout Kansas, such as tornado's, floods, wildfires or other disasters.
The state plans to have various activities and events throughout the month.
Here are a few ways you can be prepared for whatever may come your way.
Build an zombie (emergency) response kit.
The best thing to do during a zombie infestation or other disaster will be to bunker down in a safe location. You should put together an emergency response kit to store in your safe location, when disaster strikes you won't want to be without the necessities.
Gather supplies and basic necessities for you and your family, including your pets, to survive for 3-4 days. Some basic things to include are non-perishable food, water, medicines, and personal sanitation products, blankets, candles, matches, flashlights and a first aid kit. If you already have a kit, make sure none of the items are expired, and consider adding extra blankets or jackets to be prepped for the cooler fall or winter weather.
A Quick Emergency Kit Checklist
First Aid Kit:
- band-aids
- gauze pads
- tape
- scissors
- tweezers
- antiseptic spray
- sunscreen
- gloves
Important Documents: ID's, Social Security Cards, Birth Certificates, lists of current medications insurance information etc. These don't need to be kept in the kit but just need to be readily accessible.
Medications: These don't need to be stored permanently in the kit but it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep them stored in a way that easily ready to move.
Water: The average human needs just shy of 4 liters of water a day to survive. Keeping a stock of clean bottled water is a must.
Clothing/Bedding: Warm durable clothes and warm bedding materials will go a long way in helping ride out an emergency
Food: Keep a 3-4 day supply of non perishables handy. Good things to include are:
- Canned foods (veggies, meats, and fruits)
- Canned juices or soups
- Calorie and Energy Rich foods like peanut butter, honey, and granola bars
- cookies, candy, coffee and tea are good ideas to add a bit of comfort to the disaster
- food for any pets you may have
Tools:
- battery or crank operated weather radio
- battery or crank operated flashlights
- spare batteries
- can opener
- multi-tool with a knife and other attachments
- eating utensils
Personal Hygiene Items: items often overlooked when prepping for the worst. Items to include are toilet paper, soap, toothpaste/toothbrush, etc.
Plan ahead for what you would do and where you would go if a zombie apocalypse does happen.
Having a plan and knowing ahead of time where to go if a disaster strikes can save valuable time, and possibly even your life. Practice heading to your shelter or the proper response for the given disaster by having drills at home, school, and work. Also, discuss what to do if you’re caught away from home when disaster strikes, and what kids should do if they’re home alone.
Find more information about creating an emergency plan:
Sedgwick County Emergency Managment
Have a communication plan ready
What happens if disaster strikes and you need to get a hold of someone or get updates on the situation? What if that disaster knocked out local cell towers so that cell-phone you so quickly thought of doesn't work? If zombies attack or other natural disasters occur the means by which we so commonly communicate may not work. I'm not saying you need to go out and learn how to communicate by smoke signals but having a communication plan between you and your loved ones or at least a way to receive information is a good idea.
Some things to consider when making your plan are:
- How will my family get emergency alerts and warnings?
- Where are my safe locations in the event of a disaster and how can my family get there?
- How will I let loved ones know I am ok/how will they let me know they are ok?
- How will we communicate if cell/landlines/Internet doesn’t work?
Here's a site that will outline some other things to have in your plan, it also has some download-able plan templates you can fill out.
Ready.gov
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