Wiekes weetjes: tips that could save your life

The chances are high that we all learned a very valuable lesson this week that could save our lives: never pay a quarter of a million to go in a small submarine to the Titanic before doing some research on the reliability of the company in question. Hindsight is 20/20, they often say, but in this case, it could certainly have saved three lives. (assuming the CEO and the pilot would have continued to hold their misplaced trust).

I consider the chance to be very small that many people would pay so much money for a glimpse four kilometers deep, so I have some facts and tips for you here that could potentially come in handy and could save your life.

1. If you're going diving and you need to throw up, do it in your mask.
Even though it feels gross and you have the urge to take off your mask and throw up in the water, don't do it. Your natural instinct will tell you to inhale after throwing up, and that is very dangerous without a mask.

2. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to break a car window, don't hit it in the middle.
These types of windows are much more fragile at the edges, so that's where you should hit — otherwise, you'll be at it for a while before it breaks.

3. If a guard dog comes at you, look to one side and calmly turn around and then walk away.
So don't confront it or try to calm the dog down, that could end badly.

4. If you get lost in the woods, stay where you are.
The chance of finding your way back (if you're really lost) is much smaller than being found, and the search area only gets larger if you start wandering aimlessly.

5. Are you choking, but there's no one to perform the Heimlich maneuver on you? You can do it on yourself..
Practice these steps, because you never know.

6. Sleep with your doors closed.
If your house catches fire, it can really be the case that your room (and thus you) remains almost untouched if your door is closed.

7. Are you outside during a thunderstorm and does your hair suddenly become static? Then quickly seek shelter.
That's the moment before lightning strikes, and you definitely don't want to be a target.

8. Are you being robbed or harassed? Then shout ‘fire’.
According to research, people are most likely to help and/or see what's going on when ‘fire’ is shouted.

9. If you've hit your head very hard and become extremely tired within six hours, go to the hospital.
Not because of a possible concussion, but because of internal bleeding — this can be a sign of that.

10. If you need to throw up and it looks like ground coffee or tar, go to the hospital immediately.
Because this is also a sign of internal bleeding.