EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., April 23, 2013

EVENT: Zombies will invade the University of Michigan campus to test School of Public Health students’ understanding of emergency preparedness and raise awareness about the importance of being ready for a disaster.

Students in the course Epidemiology 651, “Epidemiology and Public Health Management of Disasters,” will be forced to think beyond usual public health preparedness and response plans during the “zombie apocalypse” exercise, said Dr. Eden Wells, professor of epidemiology, and the faculty member who teaches the course.

The exercise, which will include some students dressed as zombies, is modeled after a curriculum designed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Using zombie preparedness as representative of any hazard, or ‘all-hazards preparedness’ is becoming a fun way to educate the public and train public health practitioners,” Wells said.

The exercise is designed to make students contemplate likely scenarios in disasters and the appropriate response. They are asked to think about community partner organizations and the role each group would play, what to tell the public and when, how to respond if essential services like utilities are lost, what contingency plans should be in place for the elderly and handicapped, and even how to manage the family pets.

“The graduate students have spent the semester learning about the evolving role of public health in community disaster management and response, and developing knowledge of epidemiology principles and methods for community assessments and public health disaster management,” Wells said. “Now they get to put that learning into practice—and have some fun along the way.”

PLACE: U-M School of Public Health, Rooms 1680 and 1690, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor

SPONSOR: U-M School of Public Health. The Michigan Department of Community Health, along with several CDC staff members stationed at MDCH, will participate in the event.



INFORMATION:

• School of Public Health zombie apocalypse site: http://sph.umich.edu/zombie
• CDC’s Office of Preparedness and Response site: www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm
• Wells: http://practice.sph.umich.edu/practice/dynamic/site.php?module=courses_one_instructor&id=127

EDITORS: This event has limited space and requires registration, so all media interested in attending are asked to notify Terri Mellow at twm@umich.edu in advance.