Outside Notre Dame stadium Thursday, the Notre Dame Police Department (NDPD) held their annual Zombie Preparedness Festival, which entailed safety demonstrations, prizes, food trucks and staff dressed in zombie makeup.
At the event, members of the police and fire departments dressed as zombies to spark student interest in their resources and programming. Their faces were covered with gory face paint and fake blood by members of the Saint Mary’s Theatre Department.
The Notre Dame and South Bend fire departments, Notre Dame departments of sustainability,cybersecurity and travel safetyand the Red Cross Club of Notre Dame made up the organizations tabling at the event.
The Red Cross Club guided students and community members in attendance through CPR practice on dummies in order to teach them proper emergency procedures.
Lisa McCreary of the South Bend Fire Department and her colleague Melissa Stephens, the department’s digital communications and multimedia coordinator, spoke about the importance of the event in terms of raising safety awareness.
“This is a great event for students to have all these resources in one location that they might not otherwise know how to find,” McCreary said.
The firefighters shared information about the common causes of fires and how to prevent them.”We’ve seen a lot of kitchen fires recently, but microwaves can be an issue as well,” Stephens said.
McCreary also discussed how the information is especially relevant to students, many of whom are learning how to live safely on their own for the first time.
“I would strongly encourage you to be safe in your dorms and apartments and don’t light any candles,” McCreary said.
The Notre Dame police and fire departments offer services for students beyond just firefighting and crime resistance. Their aim is to be a resource for students and to engage frequently with them.
Jake Kalman, a social media outreach engagement intern for the University who works closely with NDPD, helped to coordinate the event. He emphasized that beyond keeping students safe, NDPDalso aims to be a resource for students and frequently engage with them.
“The police department is who keeps us safe. They do more than just respond to fire alarms. Students can reach out for comfort canines, reach out and have someone pick them up for a ride and more. They want to be more engaged on campus,” Kalman said.
One of the features the event sought to promote is SafeBouND, which allows students to call NDPD for a ride at any time.
Austin Poyar, sustainability program manager for operations, spoke at the event to encourage students to be more mindful about sustainable practices, saying that the number one thing they can do to increase their sustainability is to know what is recyclable.
Poyar’s table included a diagram depicting “Zombie Apocalypse Rules and Guidelines,” all of which were sustainability-themed. The poster made suggestions to students to improve their sustainability practices by using reusable bags, biking and walking as much as possible, as well as testing drinking water.