"Don’t Expect It To Look Like The Movies": 30 Lifesaving Tips That Might Save Your Life One Day

If a service dog comes up to you, *follow them*. Service dogs will only leave their owners as a last ditch effort for help.

If you get caught in avalanche and not sure which way you’re facing create space around your head and spit. Gravity pulls it down and you know which way to dig.

You should have a fire extinguisher in your home. You won’t need it until you really really do. 25 years ago my dad saved our house from burning down (and maybe our lives) because we had a fire extinguisher and when I moved out on my own he insisted that I get one which I’ve hauled around for years thinking I’d probably never need it.

Last weekend an electrical fire started in my building and I was the only one with an extinguisher. The fire department got there quickly so I probably didn’t save any lives, but I was able to keep it under control until they arrived. Buy one, know exactly where it is, and cut the safety tag off of it now so you don’t have to find something to cut it with in an emergency. You never know.

A person who is drowning doesn’t look like people drowning on TV. When someone is drowning, they rarely cry out, can’t wave their arms around, and will often just bob/sink at the surface for a very little while, often gasping, before submerging. Don’t expect it to look like the movies when you’re keeping an eye on swimmers.

If you think you’re being followed, turn right four times. Since you’ll get to the same place, they shouldn’t be following you anymore. If they do, you might be in trouble. Since it’s a common warning that you shouldn’t go home when you think someone is following you, the smartest is to go to a police station.

If you go on a long, overnight hike, take a jar of peanut butter. If you get lost, that can keep you alive if you’ve already finished your food. Also, take a BLUE tarp. It’s the only color that doesn’t mesh with the environment and can make air search easier.

If you or a person you’re with hits their head, briefly loses consciousness, but then becomes awake and alert again GO TO THE HOSPITAL ASAP.

You could have what’s called an epidural bleed in your brain, which classically presents as loss of consciousness followed by lucidity.

If you go home and just try to sleep it off, you likely won’t wake up.

In a nuclear explosion, most of the damage and death is caused by the shockwave the blast creates, not the fireball which has a comparatively small radius. One day you may find yourself outside or looking out a window to see an extremely bright flash. As bright as if you were staring straight at the sun. Do not attempt to locate the source of the flash. You have maybe 8-10 seconds to respond if you’re far enough away from the fireball. Lay face down on the ground and put your thumbs in your ears and fingers over your eyes. Breathe through your teeth. Since you’re laying face down the shockwave will mostly pass over you. (If you’re standing up it can cause your lungs, eardrums, and other organs to explode.) Once the shockwave passes over you, you need to find shelter immediately. I said before that most death from the explosion is caused by the shockwave. Well, FAR more death is subsequently caused by nuclear fallout AFTER the blast. Do not attempt to travel anywhere. Just get underground. If you’re next to a complete stranger’s house or a business, don’t hesitate to go inside and hide out under as much concrete and steel as possible. You need to remain in this location for the next 48 hours. This is critical. Even if you survive the blast if you attempt to go home and spend just 20 minutes outside traveling you will more than likely die of radiation sickness. Radioactive material after a blast decays exponentially, and you will be safe to try and find your loved ones after 48 hours. If you don’t wait this out, you definitely won’t be alive to find them. When you’re ready, you need to leave the city and get as far from the fallout as you can.

If you get caught up in an undercurrent and notice you’re getting dragged slowly out to sea, do not swim directly toward shore. Swim parallel to the shore until you don’t feel yourself being pulled out, then swim directly toward the shore.

Get a Carbon Monoxide detector with a ppm meter on it.

Recently, I was experiencing intermittent bouts of nausea and lethargy, so I suspected CO poisoning despite my detectors being up to code. I bought a new one with a meter to check if there were trace amounts in my apartment.

I discovered that my oven has a leak, so whenever I cook I get exposed to CO ranging from 35 to 90 ppm, which is pretty high. How come the detectors didn’t go off? Turns out that they only beep when there’s 50ppm for 8 hours, or 150 ppm for 5 to 10 minutes——I was just below the threshold while still getting smashed with carbon monoxide.

Expired epinephrine (epi pen) is better than no epinephrine

Studies show, if properly cared for, epi retains full practical potency for up to 5 years past expiration. Just dont leave it sit in sunlight, freeze, or heat it. All those things speed up its breakdown.

This is especially important to know these days, with epi being $600+, a lot of poor people with serious allergies may be throwing out epi that is in fact still good. When you dont need to replace it every year, its a huge game changer when youre poor and uninsured.

If you see someone who may be unconscious and looks like they're about to vomit ROLL THEM ONTO THEIR SIDE. Also do this if someone passes out drunk.

If you are alone and start choking, you can use the back of a chair or sofa to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on yourself. Source: had to do it to myself when I was about 15

Pressure on the wound is more important than covering it. Ice can also stem blood flow.

If you've swallowed something wrong in a restaurant and it's blocked your throat, even if you aren't technically "choking" yet, do NOT go to the bathroom out of embarrassment. The majority of female choking deaths occur in the restroom because they excused themselves out of embarrassment for "making a scene"

Edit: the advice of 'don't go to the bathroom or isolate yourself when choking' obviously applies to both genders. I just don't know the statistics for where men are more likely to die when choking or why it's different than women. But I would imagine it has to do with: as women, we are more likely to stupidly be embarrassed and try to hide than men are.

If you get stabbed, do everything in your power to keep the knife in. The knife is acting as a makeshift seal and it’s the only thing keeping you from bleeding out. Keep it in and get to a hospital immediately.

Plus, if it hurts like a b***h going in, it’ll hurt like a b***h going out.

If you are lost in the desert, or a lot of places for that matter, the number one thing you can carry to increase your chances of being found is a small reflective mirror. Anytime a plane flies overhead you can reflect light towards them, and you greatly increase your chances of being found. This seriously is more important than carrying more water with you (not that water doesn’t help, it’s just not realistic to carry that much water on your back). Furthermore, if you get stranded in the desert with a vehicle, do not leave your vehicle to find people. You are a lot harder to see than your vehicle, and your car can provide shelter (your car has some good reflective mirrors to signal with, especially the rearview mirror). Finally, the universal sign for needing to be rescued is waving two arms up and down. If you can’t use both of your arms, there is another universal way to signal for help that is more versatile. The way I can best describe it is three of anything quick signal. Three gunshots, three whistle blows, three flashes of a flashlight, three flashes from a reflective mirror, etc. Just make sure they are spaced widely enough (at least one second) and that you spend a considerable time before making your next three signals.

If you’re being tied up, puff yourself out as much as possible so it’ll be easier to wiggle out of. Tense muscles, inhale deep and stretch out your arms and legs to make more space.

If your car gets stuck on snow and your tire(s) just spin, you can take out your floor mats and stuff them under the wheel that spins when you press the gas. This will hopefully give the car enough traction to get itself rolling so you can be on your way again.

Learn how to stay calm, breathe and assess situations. This will help in so many future surprise situations. Be aware of your surroundings, exits, bathrooms and where medical/fire kits, where land-line phones are if they are around.