77 Useful Facts That Could Make A Huge Difference In An Emergency

How to recognize a stroke: BE FAST

Balance: dizziness, headaches, or loss of balance

Eyes: blurred vision

Face: one side of the face is drooping

Arms: arm or leg weakness

Speech: having difficulty with speech

Time: now it's time to call an ambulance

And don't be like my mom and go into a locked bathroom to give yourself a stroke test in the mirror!

You won't harm someone who's collapsed and unconscious, by attaching an Automatic External Defibrillator to them,unless you hit them over the head with it!
There's many around public places now and they make a huge difference to Cardiac Arrest survival.

A sense of impending doom is not just an impression, it could a sign of sepsis, a post-surgery complication or a heart attack (last one especially if you're female, symptoms differ depending on gender).

If you get caught in a rip current swim parallel to the beach until you're out of it, then head back in. fighting straight toward shore is how people get exhausted.

**If you wake up and find a bat in your bedroom, go get a rabies shot immediately, even if you don't think you were bitten. Bat teeth are so tiny you often can't feel or see the bite, and by the time rabies symptoms appear, it's 100% fatal.**.

If you hear a lawn sprinkler where there is no lawn sprinkler it's a rattlesnake.

Even if you are an Olympic swimmer, still wear a life jacket when kayaking. I've known many excellent swimmers drown because they refused.

If you’re trapped in a burning building, stay low. Smoke rises, and the air closer to the floor can be more breathable.

You can develop an allergic reaction to anything at any time- yes, even as an adult and yes, even to things you've eaten/touched before and been just fine. If it looks like an allergic reaction and feels like an allergic reaction, don't waste time on "but I'm not allergic to anything!!", GO to the emergency room. The most common allergy to develop in adults is shellfish.

In a similar vein, your "minor" allergy to whatever can also develop into a major allergy at any time. Don't be that guy who's like "aw, I just get a minor tingle when I eat that, whatever" and consumes it anyway.

If you are in a situation where you feel so threatened that your first instinct is to attack - think, can I get away or de-escalate this instead?

This training saved my life when my ex threatened me while in a d**g induced psychosis, blocked the exits, took my phone and keys, and was screaming at me about how he thought I was plotting against him. I felt so threatened, my first thoughts were to attack him. But my old kickboxing trainer’s (who was ex military) voice floated across my mind just saying “de-escalate”.

I was able to get myself and my dogs out safely. If I had listened to my first instinct and attacked my ex, I think he would have seriously injured or k****d me. He was 7 inches taller than me, at least 50 lbs heavier, and already thought I was out to get him.

My trainer always emphasized de-escalation and getting the f**k out of there and that really stuck. Do not fight unless you absolutely have to - you will be fighting for your life.

When you go to any public place like a theatre or cinema, look where your nearest two exits are and think about how you’ll get to them from where you’re sitting. My dad worked in fire insurance and always impressed on me that lots of people in a fire emergency situation d*e from crush injuries with people panicking and acting erratically trying to get out. Your best bet is to have already thought about it.

If you find yourself buried in an avalanche... spit before trying to dig yourself out to determine which way is up so you don't dig deeper into the snow.

You can do the Heimlich on yourself. You need a chair or something hard to press against. 

I knew someone who passed eating hard candy at his house alone. I can't imagine how panicky he must have felt.  .

Don't go down a stairway with both your hands in your pockets.

If you ever get stuck in quicksand, don’t panic, don’t move around too much, and try to flatten yourself out and “swim” to the side. Saved my life less times than I can count.

If you fall asleep every time you sit down for longer than a half hour, something is wrong. My husband was doing this and he had sleep apnea. I was doing it and I had 2 autoimmune diseases. Feeling tired all the time isn't normal, even if you are a mom or you work a full-time job.

Charcoal is for outdoor cooking ONLY!! Even if you burn it in a fireplace with a clear chimney it can still fill your house with a d***ly amount of Carbon Monoxide.

Don't ignore a cat bite.

Being polite and not wanting to offend someone makes women easy targets. Never let someone pressure you if you can say no and get loud, safely.
It might save your life. .

Women often have different symptoms of strokes and heart attacks than the ones everyone talks about, because those are typically experienced by men.

Women having heart attacks often experience extreme fatigue and sore muscles, so they put it down to over-working and straining a muscle. My mum thought she had pulled a muscle doing some landscaping work and went home to sleep. She's lucky to have woken up.