Heroes R Us.

 So what do you need to do before zombies…or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen? First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp (or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored).  

- CDC Public Health Matters Blog

Damn it, I can't find my axe.

Very nice little axe, not a full 36 inch splitting axe but a smaller utility axe, 24 or 28 inches, very handy size.  I'm sure I brought it with me when I moved to Vancouver, it must just be buried somewhere in my little storage closet in the basement.

Don't worry, I haven't decided to buy a hockey mask and start butchering teenagers*, I'm looking for the axe so that I can add it to my disaster kit.

Popular opinion in the scientific community seems to be that it's not a question of if Vancouver is going to experience an earthquake, only a question of when and how big - there's a one in ten chance that the next fifty years will see a 6.5 to 8.9 magnitude earthquake somewhere in coastal British Columbia. 

As such, disaster planning has become a hot topic, and my workplace is making every effort to help its staff prepare for the worst.  We've had disaster planning seminars, emergency lockers with supplies are being set up in the building, and all of the staff members have received three-day two-person emergency supply packs.

I've actually gotten quite interested in the idea, and I've been gathering together a variety of useful items (or trying to gather - still can't find my axe) to supplement the commercial kit.  In addition to extra clothing and water, I've also set aside a short spade, work gloves, hard hat and goggles - and hopefully my axe - in order to be able to assist with rescue work.  I'm also thinking about adding a box of emergency meals to my cache.

But I have to admit that my interest is a bit suspect.  To be honest, it's sort of a science fiction game for me - in my head, I'm not really planning for an earthquake, I'm planning for an asteroid strike, or the zombie apocalypse, or maybe an alien invasion - some exotic end-of-the-world scenario that in reality would certainly demand a lot more for survival than some warm clothing and a one-week supply of food and water.

Oddly enough, I'm not unique in my approach to this.  Zombies were a popular promotional point for disaster planning groups and agencies in 2011. The US Centers for Disease Control discussed planning for the zombie apocalypse in their blog, emergency response agencies in Ohio conducted a zombie emergency exercise, and the city of Leicester in England was forced to admit that they didn't have plans in place for an attack by the undead.

Obviously no one is really worried about the walking dead (well, at least not Leicester), but the sort of chaos that we see in zombie movies is a telling example of what might actually happen in case of a disaster.  I'm confident that people see themselves as the hero in those movies, rather than a victim, but you know, I don't think that's a bad thing. If there is a disaster, I hope that we'll all be heroes.

And come to think of it, I really should find that axe, because that would be a damn handy thing to have around if zombies do become a problem.

- Sid

P.S.  A brief unpaid promo:  the emergency kits that we received through the company were purchased from a Canadian company called FAST -  First Aid and Survival Technologies Limited.  To avoid false expectations, FAST offers a variety of emergency kits, none of which come with shotguns, machetes, crossbows, or any of the other staples of zombie management.

* At least not yet.