Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse
| Using the CDC blog, Public Health Matters, the self-proclaimed “Zombie Task Force” crafted a witty but educational blog post about zombie preparedness, while regularly referring to real emergencies like hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes. Communicators stated that if people were prepared for a zombie apocalypse they were prepared for any emergency. Readers were told how to make a plan and emergency kit and how to stay informed using CDC’s emergency website, which provides up-to-date information on emergencies, tools for preparing, and training resources. Stepping outside the box proved a success. The blog went viral and trended on twitter; the traffic was so overwhelming that it crashed the CDC blog server. Although only $87 was spent, the campaign achieved an estimated 3.6 billion impressions and had an estimated marketing value of $3.4 million. This campaign increased awareness of preparedness activities, involving new audiences that weren’t previously engaged. The success of this campaign demonstrates the importance of listening to your audience and harnessing the power of social media to deliver your message globally. The success of the initial blog post has spurred many other products and partnerships, allowing CDC to reach a broad section of the population with an engaging and important topic. Websites: Original Zombie blog posting: Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHPR) Zombie Website: Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic novella: |
Million Hearts™ Initiative
Public-private partnership aimed at preventing one million heart attacks and strokes in five years.
Learn how the public and private sectors are using innovative approaches to collaboration, information dissemination, and project management to prevent heart disease and stroke, two of the nation’s leading causes of death. This innovation brings together broad expertise and establishes a central focus on a range of public health and clinical practice strategies to address significant national health issues. More details ...
Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse
What does a zombie apocalypse have to do with public health preparedness? Everything! Learn how a tongue-in-cheek blog post, complemented by social media outreach, drove an unprecedented number of visitors to CDC’s emergency webpage where they learned about protecting their families and homes during a disaster. More details ...
Connecting Kids with Dental Care
Making it easy for families to find the dental care their children need to grow up healthy.
Learn how the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the States’ Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies applied innovative methods to create a web-based locator tool to match kids enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP with oral health providers who will treat them. More details...
Electronic Patient Tracking in Disasters
In the face of a natural or man-made disaster, health care providers need to track patient counts, patient severity status, and patient location to make timely decisions.
The Bethesda Hospitals' Emergency Preparedness Partnership Patient Tracking and Locating System is an exportable suite of electronic tools that significantly advances the ability of hospitals to manage high volumes of incoming patients. More details...
Leveraging the Public to Catch Fugitives
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is pursuing 170-plus fugitives who have defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars. Focusing attention on these health care criminals via the Most Wanted Health Care Fugitives Website effectively harnesses a previously untapped resource: the public.
Find out how public attention helps catch the crooks who steal our tax dollars. More details ...
Bridging the CHASM of Health Disparities
Community Health and Service Missions (CHASM) addresses the needs of underserved populations and builds communities’ health infrastructure while providing essential emergency management and response training for the United States Public Health Service (USPHS). More details ...
