The surprising life-saving tips that everyone should know
Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
If you find yourself on fire, it's best to roll around on the floor in a vigorous manner. But you probably already know that.
You might not be so familiar with these other handy life-saving tips, however. Bear Grylls has helped to an extent, but there's more to learn.
Sage advice is hard to come by, but commenters on a recent Quora thread have dished out some great tips that might mean you avoid danger, or are able to get yourself out of a sticky situation.
Here are some of the best...
Texting and walking
(Photo: Getty)
Stop texting while walking. Your brain can't handle it – you need to look where you're going. Murali Krishnan says that walking while using your phone demands huge amounts of cognitive effort, and you can suffer "inattention blindness", where you might see what's around you, but not actually process the fact that you're about to be hit by a car.
Make sure your car mirrors are correctly positioned
(Photo: Getty)
This is basic, but often ignored. Kristen Rush explains that ensuring your car wingmirrors are correctly positioned reduces the size of inevitable blind spots, so you're looking after fellow road users, and yourself.
Don't eat snow unless you really have to
(Photo: AFP)
Snow for hydration is a last resort. It doesn't provide much water at all, and in eating it, you're reducing your body heat rapidly, which might be more dangerous. It's important to weigh up the balance.
Life jackets
(Photo: Getty)
Alvin Yip says that you're in a plane and it makes an emergency landing, don't inflate your life jacket straight away – don't give into the impulse and panic. Inflating the jacket inside the cabin will make it harder to exit the aircraft, so you should wait until you're outside. The same applies for a sinking ship. Swim to an exit, if you can, and then go bouyant.
If you're lost on a hike, walk downhill
(Photo: Getty)
People build in valleys, by water. So walk downhill, as it's your best chance of finding other people, Ernest Adams advises. Jon Mixon says that fences and water are also significant: "The stream always flows downhill and invariably will reach a larger tributary or a body of water, the fence will almost always lead to a road or a structure."
You can perform the Heimlich manoeuvre yourself
(Photo: Instagram / knead_baking)
If you're choking on a chocolate crumpet , you can dislodge it yourself. Naman Mitruka has the formula.
1. "Form a fist with your stronger hand below your rib cage and just above the navel. Place your other palm over the fist to push more firmly."
2. "Drive your fist in and up in the diaphragm area (the top of your stomach) forcefully and repeat several times till the object stuck in your throat is dislodged."
Having strong antihistamines on you is good if you're travelling abroad
(Photo: Getty)
New adventures bring new encounters, and you never know what you might have an allergy to. Ryan Borek encourages people to take maximum-strength tablets, just in case.
If cooking oil catches fire
(Photo: Getty)
Turn off the burner and cover the pot. Don't do anything drastic. Call the fire brigade too, of course, if necessary. Just don't use water, whatever you do.
In case of stabbing
(Photo: Getty)
Don't try to remove the blade. The same applies if you're unlucky enough to find yourself impaled on a sharp object. Thomas Mei writes that you should cover the wound instead, try to stop the bleeding, and find a medical professional.
Remember smoke in house fires
(Photo: Getty Images)
Smoke inhalation is the biggest cause of death in house fires. Stay low to the ground and avoid breathing too much if you can, Harsh Sharma explains.
The bystander effect
(Photo: Getty Images)
If you find yourself hurt in a public place, single out an individual. There's a psychological belief that if you're in a crowd of people, injured, everyone will think that 'somebody else' is going to help you. Direct your pleas to one person – they're more likely to intervene.
A torch can save your life
(Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
Torches can be a good weapon against an attacker. And not just because you can hit them with it. If someone's approaching you, perhaps aggressively, the light could warn them off (especially at night), as a harsh light in their eyes will prove effective, and they might worry somebody's attention will be caught.
Condoms
(Photo: Getty)
Janis Butevics writes that you can use the elasticity of condoms to store quantities of water. They're like bladders, and can hold up to a gallon. They're durable and waterproof too – so storing electrical items inside condoms is also helpful.
HT Business Insider