Probably said already but….bad CPR is better than none, even if you’re unskilled. You literally cannot make the person more dead, as being dead is what predicates CPR.
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.
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 favorable 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 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.
Drug users or alcoholics often use in the same places/ with the same people/ around the same time a day so your body is conditioned to that and when you are in these familiar situations your body is basically preparing for you to use drugs.
When you switch up your normal routine your tolerance is actually lower because your body wasn’t triggered by your surroundings. This is important to consider to prevent people from overdosing by using a similar amount as normal in a situation where their tolerance wouldn’t be the same.
The headrest of most car seats comes off and the metal points on the end can be used to break out the car windows if necessary.
Not in the way you think though. Pounding on the glass isn’t a great way to break it. The best way is to insert the metal part into the seal between the window and door and lever it outward to break the window.
If you get kidnapped try to leave as much 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.
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.
If someone is in a serious motorcycle/bicycle/ etc accident DO NOT remove their helmet. Only a trained professional should do this.
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.
You can:
Survive for 3 Minutes without air or in icy water.
Survive for 3 Hours without shelter in a harsh environment (unless in icy water)
Survive for 3 Days without water (if sheltered from a harsh environment)
Survive for 3 Weeks without food (if you have water and shelter)
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.
If giving Asprin to someone having a heart attack, make sure they chew it. It works far faster that way.
People having seizures cannot swallow their tongue. Do not put anything in their mouth.
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.
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.
Never give an unconscious diabetic insulin. Please. It’s quite likely to kill them
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 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)
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….
Gentlemen, if you usually wake up with morning wood and that stops happening, get your heart checked out. It’s one of the first signs of heart problems in men / male-bodied people.
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 realize that you have seen their face and know that they are following you.
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.
Do not actually try to suck out the venom from a snakebite
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"People having seizures cannot swallow their tongue. Do not put anything in their mouth."
It's not that people actually swallow their tongue, it's that their tongue will rest in the back of their throats restricting their ability to breathe. People have heard this and misunderstood what was actually happening and spread misinformation for decades. So then things like this come out without actually addressing the truth or the root of the phrase. Your tongue isn't going to rip out of your mouth and go down your throat. It can rest in the back of your throat and choke you to death. That's what they are saying when they say "swallow your tongue."