10 facts that can save your life

If a tornado looks like it’s not moving, it’s moving towards you. If you ever find yourself on the beach wondering where all the water has suddenly gone, make sure to get the hell out of there. If you get caught in an avalanche, pee your pants. If you are being chased by an alligator, know that the beast runs in a zigzag pattern.

Oh, and if you ever find yourself being held at gunpoint, keep – no matter how scary – eye contact with the person holding the gun. Yes, you don’t choose a crisis, it chooses you. If you suddenly find yourself in a wtf situation, knowledge can save your life. Just look.

1. You can perform the Heimlich maneuver on yourself. Yes, you basically don’t need anyone to save you if a piece of food is stuck in your throat and you’re about to choke. How?
– Make a fist with your strongest hand (right or left) and place it under your ribcage and just above your navel.
– Place your other hand over your fist to push harder.
– Push with your fist as hard as you can up and under the top of your stomach and repeat this like a jack until the piece of food – hopefully – comes loose.

2. Suppose you ever find yourself – in some VERY unfortunate way – in the bush, having condoms on hand is quite handy. Those little rubbers are incredibly elastic, allowing you to easily use them to store large amounts of water, up to four (!) liters. You can also use them to protect important items (money, your phone) from water.

3. If your plane ever has to make an emergency landing on water (pfff, unfortunate), do NOT inflate your life vest in the cabin, no matter how panicked you are. Try to resist the urge until you are out of the cabin. An inflated life vest severely limits your mobility and the chance that you will ever get out of the plane.

4. You always see it in movies: the main character gets a knife wound, heroically pulls the knife out, and then bravely fights on. This is, uh, exactly not what you should do if a sharp object ever enters your body. What should you do? Make sure to prevent it from pushing further into your body, move as little as possible so that other organs are not damaged, but do NOT remove it, as this can cause more blood loss. Try to cover the wound and seek medical help immediately.

5. Most deaths in house fires occur due to smoke inhalation, not burns. If you ever find yourself in a house that is on fire, stay as low to the ground as possible to avoid inhaling too much smoke and ‘crawl’ as quickly as possible to the exit.

6. If you seriously get lost while hiking, look for a river or fence. It has been proven that these are the most logical ways to get back to civilization. Streams always go downhill, and if you find a fence, it usually means there are buildings and roads nearby that will lead you back to civilization.

7. Crazy error of your brain: many people refuse to leave dangerous situations – even when they are clearly in danger – because they have the impression that it won’t happen to them or that it will all be fine in the end. This is called the ‘normalcy bias’ and it occurs quite often. The best way to counter this is to be aware of your surroundings. Check in that cinema where the emergency exit is, just to train your mind for drastic situations and break out of the ‘normalcy bias’.

8. Do you need to break a car window from the inside quickly? Aim for the edges and corners, not the middle where the glass is strongest. Oh, and the headrest pole (with those metal pins at the bottom) is also made of a material designed to easily break car windows. Just saying...

9. If you are in a pool and you have a metallic taste in your mouth, get out of that pool immediately. There is an electrical short circuit somewhere in the water...

10. Oh, and last but not least: never stick a knife in a toaster because thousands of people get electrocuted this way every year. Holy lord, I think I’ve done that once...