20 Little-Known Facts That Might Save Your Life

Sometimes, simple life hacks can save you from dangerous situations. We hope that you never land upon any such situation but learning simple life hacks might actually come in handy if you ever get in trouble. So, today we’ve collected some simple but useful tips for you.

#1

Image source: WebBorn2622, Farrel Nobel

“From a person who lives in the arctic:
If you are outside in cold weather and you are freezing, but all of a sudden feel really warm with no explanation as to why DO NOT REMOVE ANY CLOTHES.

You are about to die and your body is spending it’s very last energy on heating you up. Seek shelter and warmth immediately even if it feels like you are boiling hot.

People have been found freezing to death in their underwear not far from civilization because they believed they were warm.”

#2

Image source: deqb, Jake Weirick

“If you’re in a crowd that’s packed almost uncomfortably tight, ask yourself: If my shoe fell off right now, would I be able to retrieve it? Or would I just never see it again? if the latter, GTFO of that crowd.”

#3

Image source: Lonely_Person_1670, Jakub Dziubak

“I have 8 siblings; one is a firefighter/paramedic, other is a 911 dispatcher, other is a soldier, other is a cop and my sis is a lifeguard. They all contributed to this. None do Reddit so they wanted this. A lot of this is frequently asked questions. Sorry, this is long, we have a lot to share.

Fish smell but no fish? GET OUT, ELECTRICAL FIRE, CALL 911.

Drunk but no alcohol? Tell the person to smile, if it’s drooping, it’s a stroke.

Stabbed? Don’t move it. Go to the ER because it’s the only thing preventing you from bleeding to death.

Cinnamon smell in your drink? Don’t drink it, it’s a cover up for poison.

No service and need help? You’re still able to call 911.

Ocean retreating? Get to high ground, there’s a tsunami.

Need heat/light? Burn a crayon, it will last up to 14 minutes.

Don’t know how to talk to 911? Say where you are first, what happened, your info, the victim’s info, stay calm and answer questions best you can. The more info, the better.

Square waves? Avoid the water, you’ll drown.

Think you’re being followed? Make 4 right turns. Still behind you? Following you, DON’T GO HOME, GO TO THE POLICE STATION.

Held at gunpoint/knifepoint and told to go somewhere? DON’T GO. You’re more likely to be found where you are than to the location you’re being taken and make a scene too.

White fuzzy spot on your banana? Don’t eat it, spider infestation.

In the woods and nothing to eat? Dandalions (the yellow ones) are fully edible.

Carjacker? Crash the car, then you’re useless.

Under rubble? Grab an object and tap in intervals of 3, wait 10 seconds, tap 3 times again and so on.

Unmoving tornado? It’s coming towards you.

Fall on tracks at a subway? There’s a crawl space under the platform, go there until you get help.

Don’t know the emergency number? Call 112, it’s a worldwide emergency number.

Disturb a bee/wasp nest? They’re not stupid, don’t go in water, they’ll keep stinging you when you go for air.

Purple flag on the beach? Don’t swim, there are dangerous sea creatures in that area.

Bleeding? Elevate it above the heart.

Gas smell? DON’T USE THE ELECTRIC, YOUR HOUSE WILL EXPLODE.

Bitten and poisoned? DON’T SUCK IT. YOU’LL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE.

Someone overdosing? DON’T BE AFRAID TO CALL 911, NOR YOU OR THE PERSON WILL GET IN ANY LEGAL TROUBLE.

Elevator falling? Lay flat on your back and cover your face.

When does drunk driving occur? Late hours of the night (Midnight-4:00 in the morning) Friday-Sunday.

Hair randomly stands up while outside? DUCK AND COVER, YOURE GETTING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

What info should I carry? List of medicines you take, allergies, name, age, address, phone number, where you live, what language you speak, blood type, any useful information for emergency services.

Fire? Before you leave the room, touch the door with the back of your hand. Cold? Peek out. Hot? Use the window if possible.

What’s the 3-minute rule? You only have 3 minutes to escape a house fire. 3 weeks without food is survivable. 3 days without water. 3 hours without shelter. 3 minutes oxygen deprived

How should I leave a fire? Don’t use the lobby or where you came from, when you walk into a building, there are exit signs, use those instead.

What’s dry drowning? When you’re drowning to the point you feel like you need to throw up water, even though you make it out, go to the ER because your lungs will fill with fluid over time then you drown from the fluid.

What if an animal is vividly colored? It means they’re more likely to be poison.

Money falling from buildings? Don’t pick it up, get the hell out of there, it’s a way terrorists kill more people, is by having them all in one place.

What happens if a service animal is not with its owner? Go with it, it’s getting help.”

#4

Image source: Navaro27, Hans-Jurgen Mager

“If you are ever being chased by a polar bear get completely naked and drop your clothes on the ground as you run away. Polar bears have really bad ADD and will firmly inspect your clothes before chasing you again.”

#5

Image source: 2_Robots_In_A_Coat, Angela Mulligan

“If you or your kid is eating fruit and they complain about it tasting ‘fuzzy,’ ‘hairy,’ or something along those lines, it means that they are allergic to it. You’ll want to schedule an appointment with their pediatrician to schedule an allergy test.”

#6

Image source: wheresmychin, Paul VanDerWerf

“Not exactly an answer that will save your life, but may save the life of an animal. Never, ever, ever give away animals for free to strangers. Creating a financial disincentive to adopt weeds out people who cannot afford to care for a pet, people who will neglect that pet, and most importantly people who intend to abuse that pet. Serial animal abusers search for free animals on social media explicitly for this purpose.

Always charge money. It’s not so you can make profit. It’s to increase the chances that animal will be okay.”

#7

Image source: ipakookapi, Helena Lopes

“Relationships are voluntary.

If someone is hurting you or you just don’t like being around them, mentally or physically, parent, friend, or partner, you are always allowed to leave.”

#8

Image source: posh_bagels, Randall Bruder

“If you ever have to touch an electrical wire that you’re not sure is live or not, touch it with the back of your hand. If you touch it normally, the electricity will make your muscles contract, and you’ll automatically grab on to the wire tighter and tighter until you’re dead.”

#9

Image source: Zmirzlina, Arnel Hasanovic

“An “Impending Sense of Doom” is a legitimate symptom and you should hurry yourself to the ER, especially when accompanied by other symptoms such as chest pains, dizziness, numbness in limbs, etc…”

#10

Image source: anon, Ryoji Iwata

“If you are injured or need help in a crowded place direct your pleas to a specific person. Otherwise people tend to think that someone else will help, it’s known as the bystander effect. In an emergency every second can be crucial, give specific instructions to specific people.”

#11

Image source: karma_dumpster, Crystal de Passillé-Chabot

“Don’t mix window cleaner and bathroom cleaner.”

#12

Image source: Kind_human77, Nik Shuliahin

“Don’t leave a suicidal person alone, no matter how jolly he looks that moment.”

#13

Image source: cawatxcamt, Owen Cannon

“If you are in a big crowd with a group and you lose track of them, call out your own name to find them, not theirs. I don’t know why it works, but people are more attuned to hearing their friend’s name yelled in distress than their own. I’ve had several opportunities to test it out, and I swear it works every time.”

#14

Image source: Lvcivs2311, Klara Kulikova

“We all know the symptoms of a heart attack as pain in the chest and/or the arm closest to the heart (usually left, sometimes right). But women tend to have pain in their stomach instead. There are also cases of people thinking they have pain in their back which turned out to be their heart.”

#15

Image source: Stuckatwork271, Emmanuel Ikwuegbu

“If anyone is ever getting electrocuted around you do NOT touch them directly.

Instead use some sort of object to get them away from the object they are holding or touching. You can use a belt wrapped around a waist (again be careful not to touch them), a broom, mop, fast moving office chair, hell if its that serious you can drop kick them out of contact.

Can’t tell you how many people have gotten themselves electrocuted grabbing someone stuck to something.”

#16

Image source: MyNamesKilroy, Mélody P

“Don’t remember where I learned it, but the air begins to smell like ozone before lightning strikes, so if the air starts smelling kind of like chlorine during a storm, it means lightning might be about to hit the area you are standing in.”

#17

Image source: ikindalold, Suzuha Kozuki

“Kangaroos can’t hop backwards

I don’t care how drunk you get, you and a friend will be on vacation in Australia 5 years from now, he’ll get attacked and you’ll instinctively yell “get behind him!””

#18

Image source: RightCoyote, Scoro

“If something is squirting blood, that’s an arterial bleed. You need a tourniquet.
When applying a tourniquet, go high and tight.
How tight? It’s gonna hurt.
You’ll know the TQ is working when you can no longer feel a pulse on that arm/leg.

Tourniquets CAN be improvised, but it is highly recommended to use a proper CAT tourniquet if available.
Make sure to record the time (preferably in 24 time such as 0930) that the tourniquet was applied.”

#19

Image source: Ballinagh, ROBIN WORRALL

“If you smell Natural Gas in your house, don’t turn on lights, appliances or use the phone inside.
A spark could cause an explosion.”

#20

Image source: jimicus, Christopher Burns

“Fire spreads fast. **Really** fast.

As in: It can go from a wastebasket to an entire room in three minutes flat.

If you find something in your house is on fire and you don’t have something immediately to hand (such as a fire blanket or extinguisher), get everyone out immediately. Don’t even stop to find your phone.”