Random bits of knowledge may seem pretty useless most of the time, but you never know when they might be useful.
Reddit user u/clomsyclose asked:
"Reddit, what's an "unknown" fact that could save your life?"
20.
People having seizures cannot swallow their tongue. Do not put anything in their mouth.
Edit: this is my most upvoted comment thanks everyone!!!
19.
A good way to detect if somebody is having a stroke is to have them repeat a sentence back to you. A good sentence that everybody should be able to do is, "Hello, My name is [name] and today is Friday Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to Die." If it's slurred, get some medical attention real quick.
18.
I saw on a popular talk show once, that a guy known for self defense and such-, teaches it- had had an epiphany. After watching a toddler throw a tantrum to get candy, and then he wrapped himself around a pole of some sort. He said he watched the grown ass adult (mom) could not get her child off. And it was very noticing for the public that something strange was going on.
So he says he then taught that you can try to wrap yourself around any convenient 'pole' or similar structure. You can wrap yourself around the legs of a kidnapper, esp on the street. He says you can be forced into a van or vehicle quite quickly, unnoticeable. But this behavior is noticeable. Esp with screaming or fussing. And dayum impossible to get you off. (Even just being deadweight can be useful. Let all of your body go limp.)
17.
Not for people but still. Raisins, grapes and avocados are just as bad if not worse for dogs than chocolate. I did not learn this until 6 months after I got my first puppy.
16.
There is a symptom that is a general feeling of "something is wrong" and "I need help"
If you ever have that feeling without being able to point out the reason (it's not just I have an ache or having a panic attack), listen to it.
I was at work and from one moment to the next decided I had to go home... so I did. It was a 2 hour trip with public transport and about an hour in I decided I had to go to the hospital, not home. So I did.
I had multiple pulmonary thromboses but no symptoms at all except for that one, in the hospital for ten days, on anti coagulants ever since. listening to my weird body signals saved my life.
15.
Don't leave ice packs on wounds or swelling for more than 15 minutes at a time to avoid irreversible nerve damage! Hot packs are no more than 20 minutes at a time to avoid burns. Leave both off for 15-30 minutes, too.
14.
If someone is in a serious motorcycle/bicycle/ etc accident DO NOT remove their helmet. Only a trained professional should do this.
"They probably can't breathe!"
"Yes, they probably can't do a lot of things. Such as support the weight of their head because their spine is broken. Leave the helmet."
Yeah, the first thing people will do during an emergency is panic. If you're first on scene as a bystander, the best thing you can do is NOT panic and delegate tasks...tell an individual to call 911, another one or two to be on crowd control.
Never try to do something you haven't been trained on, but never blame yourself when something goes wrong. If you get to the point where CPR is necessary, know that that person has like 5% chance of making it anyway...
13.
We get cranky about red eye reflex in photos, but seeing that red reflection in a flash photo is good: that's light bouncing off the nice red back of your eye and back out the pupil. If you see the pupil reflecting white in a picture of a human — especially in children — get them to an eye doctor fast. (If no reflection, no worries, that's also normal.)
White reflection (in a human eye) means that either the retina has turned white, say, from loss of blood, or that there is something else in the eye in front of the retina that is reflecting instead. Either is very bad, but if there is "something else in the eye reflecting white" it's unfortunately good odds that it's cancer in the eye. Eye cancer is VERY bad since the eye connects to the brain by the optic nerve; if cancer isn't caught quickly it can go up the optic nerve to the brain, and cancer metastasized to the brain has poor chance of survival.
I had someone send me a pic asking if that was it, and realized I wasn't completely clear: pinpoint reflections off the front of the eye are normal — think of cartoon eyes with that little spot of white reflection in the black pupil. The red or white reflex off the back of the eye generally fills the whole pupil. Wikipedia has a good pic showing all three reflections.
12.
If you get caught in a rip current and dragged out towards sea, don't try to swim against it, swim parallel to the beach til you get out of the current and then make your way to shore.
Or better yet, if you see one narrow section of the water that's unusually still (as in there's a visible break in the middle of a wave) don't swim in it (edit: the reason is that this is how you identify the rip current in the first place)
11.
The best defense against an aggressive bear is to get some sort of large object, like a large tree, or car, and just keep moving around it keeping it between you and the bear until they get bored and leave. Bears are WAY faster than people in straight aways but cannot maneuver around the object as quickly due to how big they are. Do not try and climb the tree, just keep it between you and them. this is known as "the squirrel defense". Now if there are TWO bears....
10.
Probably said already but....bad CPR is better than no, even if you're unskilled. You literally cannot make the person more dead, as being dead is what predicates CPR.
If you have a puncture wound to the chest or abdomen, the first thing you should do is place a non porous(think plastic bag) object over the wound, it will help prevent tension pneumothorax.
A tourniquet is quite simple to put on and can save a life if there is no other option. Place close to the site or near (not on) a joint. NEVER remove a tourniquet once placed, as clots can travel to the brain and lungs. Also mark the time you put it on.
If you're at an accident scene and have no medical training, something you can do is collect information and help calm victims. This is quite helpful as it assists the paramedics with triage and keeps potential injured persons heart rates down. Alternatively, learn how to hold C-spine.
If your car ever gets stuck on the train tracks, look for a sign on the crossing arms, this is the "railway 911" and has a number to call to stop traffic as well as your exact location.
If you've been cut deeply pack gauze into the wound as tightly as possible then hold pressure.
If you are driving in inclement weather pay attention to truckers, they are often warned ahead of time of wrecks and things due to their radios. Also never drive in the rain without headlights!!
9.
This is a New Zealand specific one, but all emergency numbers work here. The official number is 111. But 999,000,911, etc. will all work. This is so that tourists can still reach emergency services easily.
8.
If you smell a fish smell in your house (some people also report a urine like smell) for no reason, 9 times out of 10 it means there's an Electrical Fire.
7.
If you either
a. have a longstanding alcohol problem,
b. show any signs of alcohol withdrawal when you go too long without drinking
Do not attempt to quit drinking without medical assistance. Alcohol withdrawal can be fatal.
And if you can't or don't want to use a rehab, ask your doctor to help you. They are more than happy to assist you tapering off and dry up safely. So many people don't know how dangerous alcohol is. My dad nearly died twice because he tried quitting by himself.
6.
If someone is stabbed or punctured by a sharp object, leave it inside.
Do not – absolutely do not – try to pull it out! Leave the object in until help arrives.
Pulling it out will only double the damage: the object can considerably reduce and stop the flow of blood by exerting pressure on the injured area. The moment you pull it out, blood flow is likely to increase.
5.
If you are being followed by someone, the best chance you have at deterring the person pursuing you is to turn around and yell firmly at them "What do you want!" whilst getting the best description of their face. This will help people that are around you know where you are whilst hopefully scaring the creep off as they will most likely realise that you have seen their face and know that they are following you. To make sure someone is following you, take a few random turns (avoid alleyways and dark areas, try to get to populated spots) and if they are still there go for gold.
4.
Rescuing a drowning person can be just as dangerous as drowning. That drowning person is completely panicked and has only one goal: get air down air pipe, and a desperate drownee will do ANYTHING to obtain it: that includes climbing on top of a perfectly able swimmer and submerging them underwater to get their own head above water.
Know your limits. If you yourself are a poor swimmer or the water conditions aren't favourable (strong currents, rough waves, murky water), don't attempt rescue. Immediately contact emergency services and throw something that floats at the drowning person. If you do feel confident to perform rescue AND the water conditions are favourable to your abilities, make sure you take something that floats with you so you can immediately hand it to the drowning person before they latch onto you. If they attempt to make a grab at you, immediately kick away (feet should be pointing towards to the victim), and thrust the flotation aid at them. If they still attempt to grab at you, keep kicking away until they calm down or even pass out. Better only 1 person to rescue than 2.
Trying to punch a drowning person is completely outdated and not only further endangers the person you are trying to rescue, but puts you at risk as well. As current and trained lifeguards have already commented: if a drowning person grabs you, swim down further underwater until they release you. Remember the only goal of a drowning person is to be able to breath and stop water getting in their lungs. If you are pulling them underwater with you that goal can't be achieved and they'll let go of you.
3.
If you get kidnapped try to leave as many traces of yourself behind as you can. For example leave bits of clothing behind or scratch your arms a lot to leave dead skin behind. This way you increase your chances that a search dog could pick up your sent and find you.
If someone's trying to kidnap you, your chance of survival drops by 50% once you get in a vehicle and even more once you reach a destination.
2.
Never give an unconscious diabetic insulin. Please. It’s quite likely to kill them
Yes, this. I'm a type 1 diabetic and that's the last thing you'd want to do.
If a diabetic is unconscious and it's due to the diabetes, it's because of low blood glucose. Insulin is used to lower blood glucose as usually that's what the body naturally does, but for diabetics it's not the case.
The right thing to do is search whatever they have with them as they'll likely have a red plastic case which resembles a small pencil box (picture below) Inside will be a syringe and a vial with a white substance in it (picture also seen below). You want to inject the syringe into the vial, empty the contents of the syringe into it, remove the needle and shake the vial violently (but be careful not to drop it), reinsert the needle and draw the contents, and finally inserting it in the back of their arm (the tricep area) or next to the bellybutton on either side, whichever is easier to get to.
(Image of case) https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/aftercareinformation/_layouts/15/healthwise/media/medical/hw/h9991447_003_pi.jpg
(Image of inside of the case, with instruction pictures) https://i.pinimg.com/originals/26/c9/5c/26c95c05bf1fc6768970c7a0cfc78e86.png
Edit: I was unaware of this, but you can inject the syringe through clothing, so the butt and thighs are also good spots for injection.
2nd edit: Diabetics can be unconscious due to high glucose, but if you're in a situation where you are unsure if they are high or low, it's safer to assume they are low and use the glucagon as the majority of the time it is due to them being low. I just thought I should add this just for information's sake.
1.
That whole waiting 48 hours to report someone missing is total BS. If someone is missing, especially a child, report it asap. Make sure your family knows, and it could save your life.
