The world is figuratively and literally on fire (depending on where you live.) While it might be safer to stay inside, hide out from all this madness, grab a pint, and wait for all this to blow over, but not everyone can.
If you're heading out into the great, crazy unknown then perhaps its best if you arm yourself with a bit of knowledge of what to do in case someone's life is on the line.
Reddit user, u/Voorhees81, wanted to know about:
What is a tip that could one day save someones life?
Let's Start Off Strong
NEVER mix ammonia and bleach.
Lots of cleaning products contain one or the other. Read labels before mixing.
The gas it produces destroys lung tissue and I think its called [chloramine] gas, was used in world war 1 by the German army and killed a lot of soldiers and destroyed a lot of ppls lungs
Legs Over And Stretch
If your car ends upside down and the belt is tight because of your weight, you may not able to release the buckle. To release your weight pulling on the belt, put your feet on the edge of the windscreen and roof (remember you're upside down, so you lower your legs!!) and try to stretch your legs. This will just enough release the pressure on the belt to release the buckle.
Google It After You're Done Reading This
If someone passes out in what we would consider a "confined space" don't go in after them. Call 911.
If you don't know what classifies as a confined space please Google it now.
Ready For This One? Do As Little As Possible.
If you ever fall off a ship/ferry at sea and were lucky enough to be spotted - don't try to swim your way to safety. The more you try to swim, the lesser the chances of survival. Just try to keep afloat and conserve energy (and body heat) while rescue team do what they're supposed to.
Unless you are in hypothermic waters, the best bet always is to stay afloat without trying to swim to somewhere. This information about falling overboard, hypothermia and conditions, survival at sea etc are based on my own experience of 12 years sailing on merchant ships
Maybe Not Something For Your Everyday Use, But Probably Still Important To Jot Down
If someone drinks cyanide, give them a bottle of Iron (II) Chloride to drink.
It will replace the CN molecule and give them a chance of survial..
This is what they had on standby in the old days of mouth-pipetting.
Two Bits Of Advice Here
If you are ever caught in a rip tide, swim parallel to the shore line and perpendicular to the current. If you swim into it you will die. If you let it take you out to sea and aren't a strong swimmer, you will die.
If you aren't a strong swimmer, stay the f-ck out of the ocean.
Take Care Of Yourself Before Helping Others
Always guarantee your own safety before helping someone in a first aid situation! It might seem obvious, but it is overlooked way too often.
For example: when someone is unconscious in a closed space and there are no direct clues to the cause, always assume there is CO and the room isn't safe to enter. Try to ventilate the room and get the person out of there as quick as possible, but don't risk your life by staying in there for too long!
Don't Worry About Other People
If someone is making you feel uncomfortable, no matter what or why, you don't have to justify leaving the situation or find a reason first.
Being nice gets you killed.
As a Trans girl who lived on the streets for 6 months, ALWAYS trust your gut feeling
No, But Seriously, STREET SMARTS.
Dont EVER go to a second location if someone is trying to force you
Once someone does that, your chances of dying go astronomically high
Get TF outta there. Scream, holler, do what u gotta do
I am 35 years old, and I am still terrified of secondary location.
Create A Seal
If someone has been stabbed whether it's you or someone else and the knife has been pulled out, place and hold a credit card on the site of the wound, because a credit card is thin, it creates a tight seal around the hole, stopping blood loss more effectively than any other everyday item you have on you
You Know, A Positive Use For Technology
Snapchat has a location sender. I urge my female friends to send me (or someone close to them e.g. parents) their location when they are meeting up with a guy for a first date or when they are going out drinking. Bonus points if they send new locations when the leave and/or arrive at the next spot. That way if something goes bad I have a time and location at which they were last safe.
Keep It Warm
Never underestimate the dangers of swimming in cold water without a wetsuite. Jumping or diving into cold water or rapid change in temperature in your body will cause you to go into shock and drown. If you have to swim in water below 60 degrees then enter slowly.
GUYS. LEAVE. IT. IN.
If you've been stabbed, do not pull out the weapon, as painful as it is. It is most likely the only thing keeping you from bleeding out. Call an ambulance if you can, and let the professionals handle the rest.
Unsure? Be Around Other People.
Always meet in a public place
And if you run away, don't run down narrow alleys and paths to try to "lose them". You're only isolating yourself from the public.
Run as fast as you can to the largest other group of people you can find. There is safety in witnesses.
Any Longer Can Be Harmful Rather Than Helpful
If you have been driving for a while and you find yourself or your mate, in the car starting to micro sleep. Pull over immediately and get some rest (~ 20 minute power nap with an alarm to wake you). Your/their reward is being alive and not wrapped around some tree.
Wheel's Forward
When you're waiting to make a left turn, keep the wheels facing forward until you're ready to go. If you get rear-ended, it can make the difference between just a fender-bender or getting launched into oncoming traffic and getting t-boned. They used to teach this in driver's ed, but I don't think my kids ever heard this from their instructors.
Leave That Stuff On The TV
Do NOT do anything you see Bear Grylls do on TV if you're stuck in an actual survival situation.
Unless there are extreme circumstances that require you to keep moving or hiding, it is best to stay in place and use resources in your immediate area to build shelter and a signal fire.
Search parties will always look for you in the last known place you were, so stay put. Venturing around can make you more lost and it usually costs more calories than you can replenish while on the move.
It may be gross, but the best source of food you will have if lost in the woods will be bugs. Overturn a log, lift rocks, and collect bugs. They are almost pure protein and you will need protein in your body more than almost anything in order to stay alive.
Wasting energy hunting animals that you aren't experienced hunting will cost more calories than you can replenish when eating them. If you don't have a gun or bow already handy, the process of creating a weapon to hunt with, combined with the hunt itself, is extremely energy costly.
Eat. Bugs.
Find. Water.
Stay. Put.
Build. Fires.
Don't Worry About Snitches. Worry About The Stitches.
If you or a friend need urgent medical attention, be honest about any drink or drugs that have been taken. Doctors, nurses and paramedics are concerned with saving your life, not snitching on you. An emergency situation is not the time to be protecting your reputation.
It's also not the time to be embarrassed about anything. I promise doctors have seen it before. They do not care that you take viagra at 25, they just care that they won't prescribe you nitrates on top of that for your heart condition because combining those two can cause deadly low blood pressure. If they ask you what drugs you take, be honest. If they ask you about a specific drug, be 100% honest because there's a reason they're asking and it's your life on the line.
Set It Up
Write a message in your predictive text. Whenever I type 911 on my phone it autocorrects to this:
"Something has gone wrong. I'm at the address I sent you earlier and/ or with the person I told you I would be with. Please call the police immediately. This is an automated message I pre-wrote and made a shortcut for. I am sending this because I am not okay. Please send help. I love you."
Quick and easy to send to a loved one when you are in danger and cannot call anyone. I used 911 specifically because it isn't the emergency number for my country, so it's something easy to type but that I am very unlikely to. I highly highly highly recommend this to anyone.
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