Zombie Disaster Management

Last weekend I was reminded of a revolutionary idea to interest citizens in disaster management, namely zombies.

Thinking about disaster management is not very popular. There is an element of death, even if it is to be prevented, and most people are averse to think about this topic. Zombies, however unrealistic, have increased in popularity in the recent decades. Zombies in popular culture include books such as the Zombie Survival Guide, survival horror movies (Night of the Living Dead, From Dusk till Dawn, 28 Days Later) or more comedic movies (Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Fido), the Walking Dead comic book and tv series, and games (Resident Evil, Plants vs. Zombies). It is so popular that courses are taught on the subject.

It is not altogether strange then that the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention made a website where people could find information to prevent their house from a zombie attack. Being a governmental institution, there are no recommendations for weaponry or other types of assault, rather it sticks to prevention and survival. The idea is that if you are protected against a zombie attack, however hypothetical, you are also protected against many other real disasters. The effectiveness of this campaign was to be surveyed, but no results have been released so far. The government of Canada has a similar campaign. If the standard Zombie Survival Sheets were to be adapted somewhat from personal protection to home protection, they could aid in this idea.

For Western culture, the zombie approach could be an appealing method to generate interest in disaster management for individuals in a more playful manner. However, it is not very serious and may leave people shocked in case a disaster does really happen. In Japan, such an approach is not possible. Not only are disasters horrifyingly real, the idea of returning dead has a different cultural meaning. Lost family members are honored at home and during the bon festival. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, many people in the Tohoku area grieve over the rumor of ghost sightings of their lost family members, a colleague explained to me. In an area where disasters leave palpable traces of loss, other methods to interest people in disaster management must be found.