Zombie Research Society
Reverse 911 is a mass communications system used by government organizations in the United States and Canada to relay vital information to groups of people quickly. For example: in a recent Boston water emergency, Reverse 911 instantly notified Boston-area residents to boil water before drinking.
ZRS Member, Malorie Hannewaldt, suggests employing a similar system to get a jump on the coming zombie plague:
“Imagine a system much like Reverse 911 that uses mass text messages to let aspiring survivors know exactly where and when a zombie outbreak hits. It could save millions of lives!”
Zombie Research Society is looking at the feasibility of creating such a system, including text, gps, and online components. Users could register to receive updates, learn of confirmed safe zones, and connect with other survivors to markedly increase their changes of living through an undead event.
Is this something you would take advantage of if offered in your community?
What if we used a program that sent a mass call or something. We could have someone in charge of it and when it calls it plays a recorded message. That way all you need to do is make one call to make thousands of calls. Less time wasted means you have a better chance to survive yourself.
I’d definitely sign up for this. getting a txt alerting me to the danger, where and when, how quickly it’s spreading, outbreak maps even. . that would be very helpful.
Wouldn’t old fashioned radio do fine? All you’d need is a generator and the means to broadcast in a safe zone & you could inform people across the divides of the location of the safe zone, procedures for entry etc.
Great idea about the service.. someone mentioned a Kindle earlier… however a pager would be of more use or a smart phone.. The internet would/should be still up and running in the first 24 hours of Z-Day so safe-zones etc could be confirmed then for people to start bugging out or digging in…
This would defiantly be useful because as mentioned phone lines would become jammed. If ever a system was put into place I would sign up.
It is an interesting thought that should be used in such an case of emergency. Residing in Germany i have to say that we don’t have such an service. Such information (large chemical accidents etc.) is mostly spread via radio stations. Decades ago there was a civil warning system with sirens, but that has been dismantled after the end of the cold war. Something like that could also give people a heads up, if they have instructions how to react in case of an alarm.
But the best way in the beginning of an outbreak would be texting to a large number of people. That should be done by a centralized emergency center or via the phone companies your mobile is from.
I think that it would be a great life saving asset. It could even keep an outbreak from turning into full fledged zombie apocolypse by giving people a heads up to get ready.
Seriously though. I think about this a lot, especially at work since it’s the best temporary bug in place I can think of that I actually have keys to and also because I spend so much time there. If I see a zombie, who do I call? Who do I email? I haven’t the faintest how to deal with that situation and THAT freaks me out.
I do think this is a great idea, especially the text version, as texting has a better chance of getting through then a call as the system starts to jam up. I’d really like to see a text only device and network in place from one of the carriers simply due to its rapidly rising popularity let alone the potential uses in any emergency. I’d also like to see a kindle type device with a long battery, and a memory filled with maps, survival texts, and other useful information, and a hookup to allow for solar charging of the device.
Wait a sec….do you really think that Z day is real? Coz thats just scary
this is a great idea in theory for small outbreaks, but when Z Day arrives it will be next to useless because civilian cell phones will be one of the first things tossed aside so the military can “deal” with the crisis.
If anything I would suggest investing in a ham radio, that way you can send and recieve information no matter what happens…
I would definitely get a jump on this as long as it was free!
I am under the impression that communication would not be so “up” as to take advantage of this.
The Phoenix ZRS uses twitter for this already.
Dunno about you, but I don’t have a smart phone, and I wouldn’t be carrying my laptop around with me during a crisis. . Twitter wouldn’t be too much of a help except maybe possibly “IT’S HERE!!”
I use twitter via sms from a standard telephone. It’s just like text messages.