Are You Prepared?

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cynthia Spalding
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- --  A widespread, craze-infused zombie outbreak is heading in your direction. Men, women and children are running amok everywhere. It's cold, there's snow and all you have is your broken-down vehicle and what's inside it. What do you do? What do you have to do it with?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has released a book, Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic, demonstrating the importance of emergency preparedness in a not-so-normal way. The graphic novel, written by Maggie Silver, is an attention-grabbing story about the unlikely event of a zombie outbreak which focuses on the importance of being prepared for any disaster or emergency.

Being prepared for disasters is important, but living in Alaska is not like living anywhere else. There are a lot of things to look out for and being prepared is every service member's responsibility. Whether its zombies or icy roads, every emergency is better handled when you're prepared.

Nov. 6 has already proven that Alaska's winters aren't always consistent by breaking the 1946 record, with a snowfall of 6 inches with an additional 3.8 inches on Monday. Along with snow comes a multitude of other disasters you could run into this winter. Taking a road trip, snowshoeing, ice-fishing, snowmobiling or driving are just a few situations that could go wrong rather quickly.

Whether being attacked by zombies on the road or in your home, having an emergency kit readily available is a good start to being prepared. Imagine, you are walking outside in the cold Alaskan winter because your trusty rusty broke down. Cell phone service doesn't exist in the middle of nowhere. It's going to be dark for a while and you have a long way to travel before you see any sign of humanity. The ground is covered in snow and ice. Now what do you wish you would of had in your car?

Some tips on what you might find necessary to survive this unforeseen trip are listed below. Keep in mind that you might need to carry some of this, so finding the most compact forms are ideal.

1. Water. Even though you may be cold, you can still become dehydrated. Plus it can give you fuel to run from zombies (or in our case, any Alaskan outdoor animals such as wolves). Water can also be the source used to heat up your food.

2. Food. You want to have non-perishable items; some that you won't mind eating cold if need be.

3. Medications. Are there any medications that you need, any pain medicine for accidents, zombie bites or scratches?

4. Tools and supplies. Knives, duct tape, GPS, radios, flashlights with extra batteries and anything that can generate heat such as candles. Shovels are a nice thing to have too. From digging a wind shelter or your car out of snow, to swatting away bad company.

5. Blankets. It's cold. The more layers you have could be the difference in staying warm or becoming zombie-like statues.

6. First aid. You will need this for frost bite, or worse, a zombie attack.

7. Firearms. If you can get a license to carry a firearm, having one on a trip could save your life. Sound travels and could be a sign you can give off to signal your SOS. From killing off zombies to surviving the wild, a firearm and extra ammo can come in handy. In some situations you can use firearms for signaling. Three shots fired at distinct intervals usually indicate a distress signal. Make sure to follow all installation guidelines when bringing firearms onto the installation.

This list is just a simple example of what one traveling around Alaska during the winter should keep in their vehicles. There are many areas in Alaska that receive a very large amount of snow and just digging out of a home is sometimes a disaster.

When driving or traveling through Alaska, remain vigilant of your surroundings. Not every road is marked with poles to let you know where the side of the road ends and zombies begin.

You can find out more information on how to be better prepared for disasters on www.cdc.gov.

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