A first responder is a specifically trained person who usually arrives at the scene of an emergency or crisis before anyone else.
These folks include (but are not limited to) police officers, paramedics, and firefighters, since response times are often seen as a very important aspect of all three fields (law enforcement, fire suppression, and emergency medical services (EMS)). That's because these types of emergencies can escalate rapidly if nobody is able to do something to stop them. Sometimes, however, even a regular passer-by could help.
Recently, Reddit user u/PeachMilkshake2319 made a post on the platform, asking first responders to share some information about what you should and should not do in dangerous situations, and the advice they've received sound really valuable.
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Get off your damn cell phone when you drive.
Don't know what it's like elsewhere but in the UK looking at your phone while driving is rife. Every other driver appears to be checking their phone and it's ridiculously dangerous. There's an absolute legend on YouTube called cycling Mikey who has sent video footage to the London police force of hundreds of drivers doing this in the capital and most have been prosecuted. NOTHING can be so urgent that it's worth risking your life and that of others so PUT THE SODDING PHONE DOWN!!!!
We got in touch with u/PeachMilkshake2319 and the Redditor agreed to talk to us about their post.
"I was in a meeting about active shooter training in my office when I thought, 'Why not just ask all first responders what to do in dangerous situations?' It would give me so much more insight!" they told Bored Panda about the initial inspiration for starting the discussion.
"After I got off of work that day, I posted that question before driving home."
I just read something that if you're lost and your phone is about to die, change your voicemail to give an approximate location of where you are.
Ex-EMT here. We’re talking 13 years ago.
It’s not a great idea to put the pedal down as soon as the traffic light turns green. Wait a couple extra seconds. That first 2-3 seconds when the light turns green is a GREAT time to get nailed by some idiot blowing through a red light.
The thread quickly took off and now it has over 9.3K upvotes and 2.2K comments.
"A common answer I got was to learn how to do CPR and don't try to be the tough guy," u/PeachMilkshake2319 said. "[Another one was simply] run. Run like your butt is on fire. If you can help, do it but it is always better to just run."
If you are dealing with someone who has been stabbed or impaled and the item is still inside the body, do not pull it out.
This happens to me all the time! And then they bleed out. It's terrible. It'll probably happen again this afternoon and I hope to remember...
When you call an emergency number, the first words out of your mouth should be your location/address. That way, if you get cut off they at least know where to look for you.
Most people have a good opinion about first responders. This was true even amid the pandemic when there was so much uncertainty.
For example, according to a report published by public safety communications company Rave Mobile Safety, during that time, there was a lack of public trust in information shared by local government officials, but a relatively high level of trust in first responders, with 62% of the 1,000 surveyed Americans saying they completely trust the information they receive from firefighters and 59% saying they completely trust information from EMTs and paramedics.
If everyone in a room/vehicle/building is unresponsive, DO NOT ENTER FOR ANY REASON. If you see someone collapse after entering a confined space, DO NOT ENTER FOR ANY REASON. If you see a person collapsed near a potential chemical spill, DO NOT ENTER FOR ANY REASON. Overall, if it killed them, it will kill you.
DON'T touch someone lying on a downed electrical cable or in the water near one. Use something non-conductive to try to get them away from it.
Treat every gun as if it’s loaded.
llllPsychoCircus replied:
Proper weapons handling according to the Marine Corps
Rule 1: Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
Rule 2: Never point a weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot.
Rule 3: Keep your finger straight and off the trigger, until you are ready to fire.
Rule 4: Keep the weapon on safe, until you intend to fire
Rule 5: Know what lies beyond and between you and your target.
Going with this theme, a falling knife has no handle. Let it fall, jump back to avoid it.
Wear the seatbelt. It's there for a reason.
For pets, too. You don't want a ten kilogram missile flying around your car when you have a crash.
One thing a senior supervisor taught me as a crisis social worker, if it feels bad or wrong trust it. Don’t push past it, there’s usually a good reason you intuitively know that. Also, lock up your damn guns.
Crisis social worker & gun ?!? One of the main reasons why I never ever will visit the USA: It is such an unsafe and dangerous country, that everybody needs to carry a gun 24/7. And reason for it being dangerous and unsafe is: Everybody is carrying a gun. As a tourist, I am not allowed to do so. So I happily stay in this part of the world, where gun ownership and use is so heavily regulated, that even criminals need to do some effort to get hands on one. Result is less guns. However, the youth discovered knives, so this is adressed by making it harder for everybody under 18 to buy a knife in whatever shop.
If you lose your child in a crowded area, shout out what they're wearing as well as their name. It makes them much easier to identify to others.
If you're swimming in the ocean and you get knocked over and can't tell which way is up, exhale and follow the bubbles.
And if you’re stuck under the snow, make a hole and spit, and dig the opposite way of where the spit falls.
The tv line, "somebody call 911!" doesn't work. The crowd will assume some else has, and so no one will.
If you come upon the emergency, and you don't see someone already calling 911, YOU DO IT, or you take charge of the scene (like if you're doing CPR) and *appoint* someone to do it and report back to you.
"In an emergecy, the one with the flashlight becomes the leader."
Yes. Call someone out from the crowd. Point at someone and describe what they are wearing: ex- "You, in the blue shirt! (Pointing) Call 911!"
Don’t put anything in the mouth of someone having a seizure, protect their head and let them seize.
A kid at my high school had a seizure on the concrete handball courts - my genius classmate quickly slid his tennis racket under his spasming head preventing him from what would have been a serious head injury. Fantastically quick thinking for a 13yo!
Have your address clearly marked & lit so responders can get to you quickly... every second counts.
I'm pretty much screwed if something happens. My house is basically in an alley, hard to find, and the navigator doesn't help. Each time I call someone to fix something at home, it's the same phone call. "Excuse me, where is your house? I am already here but can't find it. - Stay where you are, I am going out to look for you". Israel, but it may happen in any country.
I’m not a first responder, but I have a friend who is.
He says STAY OFF OF TRAIN TRACKS. Don’t squish pennies or do photo shoots on them or walk on them at all. Believe it or not trains can sneak up on you at an alarming speed and they DO NOT slow down.
My Uncle used to be a Cop. He said that if someone is Overdosing, you should still call 911 because you could save their life, and there will be absolutely no legal trouble. And you don't have to wait 48 Hours to report someone is missing. The sooner the Better. My Dad used to be a Firefighter. He said that if you ever wake up to the smell of Gas, don't turn anything on, because it's electrical damage, and it can cause a firey explosion. He also said that when cooking something in a pan, And it catches on Fire, Don't use Water to put it out, use the pan cover.
I see that 48 hour thing in police procedural novels, but every cop I hear about says report the missing immediately. If your local cops or sheriff doesn't want to take the report, call the FBI or the state cops.
The local cops refusing is a problem. If they didn't, they might have found the girl kidnapped in TX from the Mavericks stadium while she was being raped in the parking lot. Instead they only found her a week later being sex trafficked in Oklahoma.
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I'm so glad that grease fire lesson was drilled into me as a child. We had one in the kitchen a while back and my partner was about to throw water on it. I shouted, "No!" just in time. His next idea was to try and smother it with flour. "You mean dessicated, powdered grass seeds?! No!" We didn't have the lid, so we smothered it with wet blankets. No serious damage, but we were only one mistake away from losing the house.
And if you aren't sure if someone is ODing, give them Narcan / naloxone anyway. If they're ODing you might save their life, if they aren't then it won't hurt them.
I second this! The most heart wrenching thing I've ever done was watch my husband give Narcan to our son. We had basically just found out that Declan was struggling with opioid addiction (through a series of events that had happened earlier in the day) and we knew that he had taken additional pills at some point, but we had no idea how many. Deco was passed out in his room and my husband, who is five years sober, keeps Narcan on hand. Our thought process was literally exactly what you mentioned - if he's not ODing, it's not going to hurt him but if he IS, it could save his life. Now our son keeps Narcan on hand as well. (We all do, actually.)
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My adopted uncle was a sheriff deputy. He always told me to trust my instincts. If it doesn't feel "right", it probably isn't.
Why on Earth you should NOT call an ambulance is someone is overdosing?? That person could die and just because he used something illegal, we should do nothing??? The fact that he had to specify it, terrifies me...
The 48 hour thing is in movies, tv shows and books for DRAMATIC EFFECT - Call the police, leads grow cold in 48 hours.
When I reported my now ex missing, it was already 12 hours because he never showed up for work and he's a bit of a workaholic. I was told by missing persons it hadn't been 2 days and to call back then if he doesn't show up, and then I got interrogated on the phone about our homelife and why he could possibly have just taken off. Then they said "he's a big boy. He can take care of himself." I asked "So you're not even going to bother looking for me." She said "Nope. It's not a priority." If it were a women or child there would be amber alerts and the whole shebang immediately. The f****r ended up showing up 2 days later, saying he was with his buddy selling drugs or something. I kicked him out then his parents sent him back my way to "talk it out" with me.
Then when you cover the pan, LEAVE IT THERE and do not try to take it outside. Someone I know covered the pan and took it outside because they wanted to get the fire out of the house. The sudden temperature difference caused the lid to blow off, and they suffered 2nd degree burns on their face and chest.
And NEVER use flour to put out a fire on the stove. I've seen people mention that, and flour dust can be VERY explosive.
If you ever smell rotting fish in your house for no reason, it is usually the smell of electrical insulation breaking down and needs to be checked ASAP
If you think someone is overdosing and you are fearful of calling for help, you don’t have to say it’s an OD - you can say it’s a medical emergency and describe their condition (unresponsive, shallow breathing, etc.) without mentioning drugs. It is best to stay with the person but if you feel like you can’t, call emergency services and roll them onto their side (Google recovery position to see what I’m talking about) before you leave. Witnessing an overdose is terrifying, even if you don’t know the person who is overdosing. Carry naloxone - if you ever need to use it on someone, you will be grateful you have it.
Oil and grease fires - cover with a lid or toss flour or baking soda on it. You want to smother the fire. Water will splash the oil/grease potentially spreading the fire even onto you!
If someone is overdosing, you can save their life if 1) you have naloxone, and 2) you have been trained to administer naloxone. Most US states allow third-party prescriptions for naloxone The best thing is to get trained by your local harm reduction program (if you have one). Check here for your state's rules on third-party prescriptions, https://www.safeproject.us/naloxone/awareness-project/state-rules/ and here for free, training https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/opioidoverdose
To be fair, even if one isn't trained to administer naloxone, giving it a go is better than nothing.
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It's a good idea to make sure you have the correct lid for each pan, and have it within easy reach.
My dad picked up a skillet on fire and put it in the sink. Then he turned the water on. It only burned the kitchen curtains because mom put the lid on the skillet. Then she called the fire department that was 1/2 BLOCK down the road and they went right past our house. Even with the family standing in the front yard. Sort of thing stays with you even 65 years later.
Water will make it blow up in a nice ball or rising fire. Did that as a kid to extinguish something i was cooking outside before mom came home! Learned to use it for special effects on a photoshoot for a job. Everyone thought I was a genius. LMAO
Unfortunately in a lot of places you absolutely can be arrested if someone else is overdosing. Obviously not if you're just a stranger who is trying to help. But where I'm from in the US, if you happen to be doing drugs with a person who begins overdosing & let's say you shared your drugs with them & then they die.. you can be charged with manslaughter & if you are someone who sells drugs or even gives drugs to someone & they die you can being charged with murder as well. Which is a very stupid thing because it prevents addicts from calling for help when someone is dying because they don't want to go to jail. My friend James died that way. Worst part is the girl he was with who didn't call the police had narcan on her & she forgot... she eventually called for an ambulance After she got far enough away from the scene. But it was too late. But I was also in jail (recovering addict) with 2 women who were facing manslaughter & murder charges because they did drugs with someone who died.
That last one.. I remember "chip pans" in the UK (basically a pan full of oil with a metal strainer in it). They caught fire often (my mother set fire to one once) and there were TV ads explaining that you had to use a damp cloth to put them out. If you put water in, it would sink and boil spraying burning oil everywhere.
The best thing to do when something catches fire on your stove is TO TURN IT OFF.
Or anything to smother the flames and to ,limit the oxygen getting to the fire.
If you don't have a pan cover handy, baking soda will put out fires instantly. Burning baking soda releases carbon dioxide, which suffocates the flame--fire needs oxygen just like you do.
Oil fires in the kitchen- Always have baking soda in an easy to get to place. My dad taught my siblings and I this when we were about 8-10 years old. He was at work one day when my brother (12 at the time, I was 13) accidentally caught the stove on fire. I heard a scream and saw a flash of light at the corner of my eye. He was trying to fill a ptcher with water when I grabbed the baking soda and dumped the whole box into the flames. Dad wasnt happy we had a scorched wall and fan cowel but grateful it wasnt worse and that we werent harmed. I taught my kids this, and my daughter has taught her fiance.
We had smell of gas in our apartment about 20 yrs ago I cleared others out, told my spouse not to light a butt or turn the lights on etc. She was half way out the door turned around & went back in, I called her name, she came back out saying “ you said not to turn lights on, I already had so I went back to turn them off!” 🤦♀️
Actually, wires shorting out smell like fish. If you encounter that smell (and there's no fish in the immediate vicinity), call an electrician. An electrical fire could start when you're asleep, minimizing your chances of escaping alive.
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Or flour, if you don’t have a cover. Yeah, it’s messy, but better to have to clean up a bunch of flour then burn up your kitchen and/or home.
You do know flour can explode right? There are specialist powder extinguishers...they don't contain anything but an inert compound. Grease/fat fires should be smothered either with pan lid, a fire blanket or the use of a designated fat/grease fire extinguisher
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If you're going to a big crowded event with a small kid, get a sharpie and write your phone number on their arm. Teach them to find someone in a hi-vis and show it to them if they get separated from you.
I work I. Legoland and it take minutes to find the parents if the kids have a phone number on them. Imagine being a child in a country where you don't speak the language and you get lost from your parents....very scary.
Whenever you encounter an emergency situation, stop what you’re doing and say to yourself “This is not MY emergency”
This will (hopefully) allow you to take a step back & assess the situation & prevent you from making poor, split second decisions.
So many people jump into swift water trying to save someone else, only to become a second victim. Some people quickly try to extricate victims, but injure then further.
Allow yourself to look at things as objectively as possible and you’ll make much better decisions.
Career Coast Guard here:
Wear your life jacket. Period.
Don't drink and drive a boat. Period.
Use the kill switch on your boat/PWC.
Know where you're going, tell two people your itinerary.
Make sure a second person on the vessel knows how to operate it. Practice man overboard drills/situations.
The backfire flame arrester on your engine is your friend, do not remove it. I promise you it doesn't "gain you any horsepower" when you remove it.
Keep a life ring / throwable within arms reach.
If you ever fall through ice you only have minutes to get yourself on the shelf. Once you're on the shelf roll away from it towards stronger ice don't try to stand up and walk.
Paramedic here almost 5 years.
Don't put your feet up on the passenger dash.
Febrile seizures are common in babies. Most of the time they are completely benign. Still a good idea to call us incase there's another reason why they are seizing. For a new parent, I understand it's terrifying. It's not how high their temp gets, it's how fast it gets there. Don't bundle them up if they have a fever. I know they're cold but that's just the fever. Give them meds.
Seriously consider how emergent your emergency is before agreeing to have us transport you or your loved one. We can't deny your request for an ambulance, and we really can't say 'this doesn't warrant an ambulance ride'. So just use your best judgement, if you are able to. Grandma feels weak and throwing up? She's probably sick. Take her to the hospital or better, an urgent care. Don't really need an ambulance for that. Your back has been hurting for a week? Don't really need an ambulance for that. Hurt your ankle in the shower? Don't really need an ambulance for that. You feel lonely cause you're old and your kids don't visit/call? DON'T REALLY NEED AN AMBULANCE FOR THAT! Other people DO need one and you are taking away a VALUABLE resource from them! My city of 350K people only has 6 ambulances. Yes just 6! Don't waste them! Each call can take up to 2 hours with driving to you, transporting, waiting for a bed, and cleaning. 2 hour window where somebody won't have an ambulance quickly because you have the flu.
My son had febrile seizures when he was about 2. The first ... I was taking his temp and he seized. My husband didn't see it and thought I was nuts. It ended so fast!! The second was the next morn with his grandmother and she and I took him straight to the pediatricians. His fever was only 101*. The OP is absolutely correct. It's not how high it goes but how fast it gets there. It never happened again but it scared the c**p out of us.
If you fall into cold water - first of all, FLOAT!!
> If you found yourself struggling in the water unexpectedly, your instinct would tell you to swim hard. But cold water shock could make you gasp uncontrollably. Then you could breathe in water and drown. Instead, you should Float to Live. Tell your children if they fall into water the most important thing is to float so they can shout for help & be easy to find. It calms them down to realise that this is because help will be on hand they just have to make it easier. Being calm might save their life. Tell them they can wait like that for ages if need be - just floating & shouting. I act like there’s an upcoming quiz that my kids are cramming for and randomly will ask them safety questions in any situation. They love the chance to show off & I am repeating it so often it will hopefully stick forever. Q : What’s the most important thing of you fall into water? A : Float & shout. - Q : who is allowed to pick you up in a car or take you to their house? A : nobody unless you’ve told me they will that day. - Q : what do you do if a stranger is being weird? A : go to anyone else & tell them, especially a group. - Q : what do you do if someone is holding on to you? A : BE LOUD AS HELL & kick & hit & wriggle
When I worked at a daycare, I would occasionally "kidnap" one of the kids. We taught them to yell, "This is not my mom!" because otherwise, people might think they were just having a tantrum.
Not something you could use to prevent a lot of casualties at once but very important information that people seem to immediately forget the moment they see someone get seriously hurt.
If you see someone lying on the ground after having an accident where they took a very nasty hit to the neck area or upper chest, do the victim a favor and leave them there. Obviously make sure they’re out of harms way but ***never*** move their head or try to lift them back up. A persons first instinct to help is to lift the person back up, if someone has a serious neck injury you can make it 100x’s worse by moving them.
Someone I know witnessed a car accident where the driver was hurled 20ft from their vehicle and landed on their upper chest. Once he’s lying on the ground everyone runs to help and everyone’s trying to help him up or sit him up. To everyone’s horror the moment he was lifted up his neck fell to the side with a loud crunch and any movement he might’ve had stopped a run toy like he was shocked with electricity.
The person helping him up snapped his neck paralyzing him, something that could’ve been avoided if they left it to the emt’s who are trained for this s**t.
Don’t f**k around with a persons body if they took a nasty hit to the upper chest.
1. Drownings don’t look like they do on Baywatch. Don’t expect splashing, screaming or frantic waving. People who are drowning often look like someone being a bit of a weirdo playing by themselves, head going under then popping up like a buoy that’s weighted. 2. Drowning people are dangerous to your safety and you need to approach the situation by prioritising your own survival. It is the natural response of a drowning person to cling onto whatever they can to stay afloat. That includes you. Given the chance, they will climb on your head, and you need to approach a drowning person with the assumption that they absolutely will. Proceed with a floatation device for them to cling to. If you don’t have one, approach feet first, ready to push off if they try to clamber onto you. 3. Don’t jump into the water to save someone unless you know in absolute certainty that you can get both of you back out. The ocean doesn’t care how well you swim in bathers at the pool, it is an absolute force of nature. Don’t become a second victim to be saved, your best intentions don’t help anyone. 4. Don’t walk on the rocks. Don’t swim near the rocks. Don’t fish from the rocks. Stay off the damn rocks.
If someone grabs onto you in the water pry their hands off by their fingers. Break a finger or elbow a rib and swim underneath then behind them and grab them from behind.
I volunteered on a SAR team for several years and here are a few pretty strait forward things that if people had known may have saved their life.
- If you fall in swift water float on your back with your knees slightly bent and feet facing down river. This lets you push off rocks without breaking your legs or being pulled under. You can use your arms and legs to try to direct your path downstream to avoid obstacles.
- Avoid crossing areas of rock where the rock slope steadily increases to a cliff or drop. This is common in granite slabs in the Sierra mountains. Even on pretty gentle slopes there can be loose gravel and once you start sliding it can be extremely hard to stop. So always keep in mind what would happen if you were to slip.
- When lost in dense woods it is very easy to wonder in circles. To avoid this line up 3 trees in the line you want to follow. Move to the middle of the 3 trees and then select a new tree keeping it in line with the others. Keep doing this to navigate in a strait line.
- You do not need cell service for your smart phone to have GPS or for the compass to work. If you get lost take note of your gps cords and use the compass to get a sense of your surroundings. Then turn off your phone and save the battery. Check for cell service if you find a high point. Your phone may still have some maps loaded so check that as well. You may get lucky and be near a trail or road.
- If you are stuck out side and getting very cold you will start to shake pretty violently. This is a good thing and means your body is trying to warm you up. If you start to get tired or feel warmer even tho nothing had changed DO NOT fall asleep. Do literally whatever it takes to keep yourself awake. If you fall asleep there is a very low chance you ever wake up. Along these lines if you suddenly stop shivering and feel a bit drunk you may be in the final stages of hypothermia and are in serious trouble. Even warming up may not be enough, seek medical attention quickly.
Don't forget, if you're lost hiking and your phone rings, answer it!
Stop co-sleeping with infants. They don’t need to be in the bed with you, even if you don’t plan to fall asleep. It’s crazy to me how many people argue that there’s nothing dangerous about it.
aldegundis replied:
The stories of a parent unknowingly suffocating their infant child are absolutely haunting.
Teach parents to bedshare safely! It’s common in many countries from birth and they don’t have Sid’s problems like the western world. Way safer to share a bed safely (following safe sleep 7) than falling asleep in a chair or on a couch where more baby deaths happen as parents are exhausted from getting up every 2 hours. Read James McKennas research.
How to perform a Heimlich on yourself, you're a goner without a doubt if you're by yourself and food gets too stuck.
BobRoss6995 replied:
1- try to cough the stuff up first. Hard, firm coughs.
2- if not successful, ball one hand into a fist and place it above the belly button.
3- cup with the second hand.
4- When performing the Heimlich, push both hands into the stomach and upwards towards the ribs. Hard and firmly. This is to push air upwards and push the object out.
5- If needed, add objects to aid in adding more pressure into step 4. This could be the edge of a dining chair. Lean into the object at a 30-45 degree angle. When doing the Heimlich, push into the object using your legs. Doing this, you’re using the object to push your hands further into your abdomen.
6- Repeat.
Road safety is very underrated and emergencies are common.
Keep your cool. Warn others of a problem with emergency flashers. Stay well off the side of the road if you must get out of the vehicle. Keep your belt on unless you just get out of the vehicle
If you are walking, be aware of your surroundings. Don't get lost in your headphones. Walk against traffic. Stand off to the side of the road if it's narrow and a car is coming. Wear bright/reflective clothing, especially at night
If you are a driver, keep a safe following distance. Slow down in bad weather. Use you emergency flashers liberally for when traffic slows suddenly, weather is really bad, or around a road hazard.
WEAR YOUR Seatbelt! I've seen innumerable people die who would have lived if they had just buckled the f**k up.
Never drive under the influence!
I've seen more people die from road incidents than anything else, by far! (Lifestyle disease not included)
USE the TURN SIGNAL. We can't read minds, but we can see turn signals, so we will have a better idea what someone's doing if they use the turn signal. BEFORE they turn, let me add.
Know your emergency exits especially at crowded events, big stores. In case of fire or active shooter, etc... everyone will panic and go the main entrance (the way they came in) but there is emergency exits you should go to the closest safe exit.
In a restaurant, there is usually an unblocked exit through the kitchen, don't overlook that!
You don’t have to have phone service to dial an emergency number. It will be prioritised for any available network, so if there’s signal from anything it will get through, not just your network.
Similarly, if you don’t know the emergency number of a country you’re in, try the one for your home country. A lot of places will have common ones worldwide go through too.
Children choking - every parent should assume at some point their child WILL choke on something and know how to handle such situation.
Charble675 replied:
I choked on a flinstone gummy when i was super young, my poor mom was scared as hell but to her credit acted fast and got me to cough it back up.
I have a very bad choking reflex. Once while in prison, on my birthday no less, I choked on a bite of bread. It was completely covering my trachea, and no air was getting in at all. I elbowed my friend sitting next to me. She started patting me on the back, which was nowhere near enough. I banged my tray up and down on the table to get attention. A woman at the next table said, "Oh look. She's choking." Within a few seconds, though, people were aware I was in trouble. One of the staff tried to do the Heimlich, but couldn't get his arms around me. A second staff member was able to, and he was able to clear my airway. The bread went flying. Almost everyone in the cafeteria applauded. Yes, I know, but they did! I will never forget seeing those men running to me, to save my life.
Know how to inject an epipen!
TerribleIdea27 replied:
Don't put your thumb on the end of the pen! Great way to stab yourself instead (although if you're stabbing yourself anyway an EpiPen to the thumb is still better than nothing)
Treat every fire alarm as if there was a real fire. I'm astounded by how everyone just keeps working and completely ignores it.
If you own a company, don't have a fire alarm drill more often than once every six months. And let people know in advance when the drill will be. Crying wolf does more harm than good.
Make sure children are strapped into the appropriate-sized car seat in the back. Front airbags can be fatal to kids.
Secure_Conclusion_62 replied:
For parents: DON'T hold any of your children in your arms or on your lap while in a vehicle. I don't care if they are hungry, crying, you name it. In a crash, the airbags can kill them on your lap. You can be the strongest person in the world, but even you won't stop your little one from becoming a flying projectile. Just make sure they are properly seated and secured according to their age and siz.
If your child is usually fussy during car rides, sit an adult in the back seat with them, so they can tend to them without removing them from their safety seat. If a diaper change is necessary, pull TF over!
Friend of mine is a police officer in his home city. If your friend is drunk get them a cab home. DO NOT leave them to take the train home. He always tells me 90 percent of the people he gets run over by trains are drunks who fall into the train tracks.
Or don’t make it to the train station, or get off at the wrong station, or are taken advantage of on the train if it’s late at night and there are few people on board. Just suck it up and take the time to accompany them home, then get home yourself. The guilt of knowing I could’ve prevented them dying or being attacked or assaulted just by giving up that extra time to get them inside their own home before going home myself would eat at me the rest of my life.
If someone robs you, just give them your phone and wallet or whatever else they want. It’s all replaceable. It’s not worth getting shot in the chest and dying over.
Carry a dummy wallet and phone if you can afford to. Then be sure the real ones are well concealed. Easier to do in a purse, I know.
My dad was an EMT, Firefighter, Fire Investigator, and a police officer. I’ve learned so much from him, but a few that always stay in my mind are:
1. Always extinguish unattended candles, unplug unused appliances, and unplug Christmas lights when sleeping. Sadly, my dad dealt with a lot of deaths from fires started by these things.
2. If you live in a community with a pool that has a faulty gate or fence around it, RAISE HELL until it is fixed. If you have a pool on your property, DO NOT cut corners and expect a s****y fence to keep people out. Luckily there are a lot of regulations around pools now, but when apartment complexes started adding pools in there weren’t requirements for gates around them. Dad had a few calls for a missing kid, noticed the murky pool close by (off-season and wasn’t being cleaned), and had to drag the pool until he found the child. Even 40 years later, he gets a lump in his throat talking about it and we were NEVER allowed to even have a small above-ground pool. There are still kids today that will wander to a neighbors pool and not come back out.
3. If there is a fire in your house, there are a few things to know. First, what kind of fire it is and how to put it out. Kitchen/grease fire? NEVER PUT WATER ON IT! Put a cover on the pan/pot or throw a towel over it. If there is a fire that you can’t put out yourself within 30 seconds, call 911 and GET OUT. Do not start collecting items, grabbing clothes, or continue fighting the fire. A fire will spread very fast and start emitting very toxic smoke immediately. Most fire deaths aren’t from skin burns, they are from smoke inhalation.
4. If your house is on fire and it is already out of control but the room you are in does not have flames (for example, if your kitchen is on fire but you are upstairs in your bedroom) keep your door closed and exit from that room through a window if possible. If you are exiting the home and CAN, always close the door or window behind you to starve the fire. There is a such thing as a backdraft and it can be catastrophic.
5. Things to have in your home and your car at all times- first aid kit with tourniquets and plastic wrap, fire extinguisher, glass hammer, seatbelt cutter, and your ID. Learn how to use a tourniquet, trauma wound care, fire extinguisher, and the tools before an accident happens. The Red Cross has lots of education videos or your local fire department will always have people on shift available to teach you if you ask.
6. If something requiring emergency services happen under possibly illegal circumstances (drug overdose, house fire from reckless behavior, car accident when drinking and driving, etc) BE HONEST WITH THE FIRST RESPONDERS. You will not be the first or last call they ever have with illegal or reckless circumstances. They cannot do their job the best if they do not have all of the information.
This one. "If there is a fire that you can’t put out yourself within 30 seconds, call 911 and GET OUT."
Depending on your definition of first responder, 911 dispatcher here. Listen to us. People are literally trained to give simple life saving instruction to you. Talking over us, ignoring, or just saying get here now and hanging up takes away from saving whom you’re calling for.
You cannot smell smoke when you sleep. Install smoke alarms in your bedrooms and hallways. Sleep with your doors closed.
Make an escape plan with your family for the event of a fire, have two main escape routes and a meeting point away from the house (letterbox usually). Practice your escape plan with your family. Do it more than once.
And change your smoke alarm batteries each season.
Most important if you're staying in a multistorey hotel. Even if just for one night.
If you have a diabetic patient who's dizzy at home or anywhere with no ability to measure blood sugar..always Assume it's a hypoglycemia not hyperglycemia
The first line in any diabetes chapter in any medical book is "hyperglycemia is dangerous, hypoglycemia can be fatal"
If his blood sugar is high and you made it a bit higher till getting help then that's not a serious problem,if it's low and you made it lower you can probably send him into a coma and kill him
Limb amputations. Easy to save someone with a tourniquet. Keep a few in your car, know how to apply them. It can save your or someone else’s life. Tons and tons of blood dumps out of an amputation.
Tourniquets can be a belt, a tie, anything that can be pulled tight.
If you see a snake, just keep a distance and keep calm. Most snakes won’t attack you, probably only anacondas think of you as food, unless you’re a little kid who meets a big python.
Don’t try to pick a snake up!! If you get bitten, take a good look at what kind of snake it is. Try to stay calm, get medical help ASAP.
Australian here. Our snakes won't attack you unless you attack first. By stepping on it, trying to pick it up, or putting your hand down its hole. If you see a snake, it will either be asleep or running away from you as fast as it can. Either way, just back up and walk away.
Just. Pull. To. The. Right.
Seriously, our lights go on and people start doing random s**t all over the road. Just pull to the right and at least make an effort to stop.
However if we're splitting down a lane and everyone in front of you moves to the left to make a hole down the middle, do not be the singular idiot that blocks off that hole.
Be aware of the rules in the country where you are driving. The above MAY NOT APPLY.
If you ever see a weir, low-head dam or waterfall and the water down stream looks bubbly... Or if there's just a patch of bubbly water for seemingly no reason... Just don't go anywhere near that, from either side.
(The air in the water takes away a significant amount of your buoyancy and under the surface there's a spinning current, often with tons of hard objects inside, which will catch and kill you).
You'll get sucked under, banged up, can't get out of it, eventually grow tired and drown - and those who might be able to rescue you know better than to get anywhere near a deathtrap like that.
Never remove a motorcyclists helmet after a nasty crash.
That's the one I was always told. It's a neck brace.
I remember one guy whose helmet was literally all that was holding his head on. He was alert, joking, etc until the helmet came off. Instant death.
That strokes don't always have the typical "F.A.S.T" symptoms. F: face droopy on one side. Let them smile, one side hanging down? Bad sign. A: Let them lift both arms, hand palms up (the bottom part of ur hand, English isn't main language soz). One arm falls down? Bad sign. S: speech slurry? Sounds drunk? Can't find the words, or speaking weird sentences? Bad sign. T: one of the above; call. Asap. Strokes can also have different symptoms and sometimes you have to trust on gut feeling. I'm a nurse and a guy told me he wasn't feeling well, no FAST symptoms but he couldn't read the messages on his phone. He wanted to text his boss he wasn't coming today but he couldn't type the letters and words. Stroke. His speech and arms were fine. Another man was horribly dizzy suddenly. No FAST signs but just unable to stand up due to how dizzy and unwell he was. Turns out to be a small Stroke as well.
I live 3000 miles away from my mother. I called her one morning because I was going home sick from work. It sounded like there was a problem on the line and she was stuttering. But because I had familiarize myself with the signs of a stroke I knew exactly what was happening. if you are away from a loved one, and know they are having a medical emergency, Hangup, call your local police or fire department. And they can get you to the correct 911 dispatch through a regular phone number. Yes it does take a couple minutes to do this, but it's better than, nothing.
Paramedic here-
1) learn to recognize signs and symptoms of a stroke. “F.A.S.T”acronym is what we use in the EMS world.
2) learn how to do effective CPR. Immediate bystander CPR and early 911 activation plays a MOJOR role in good patient outcomes in cardiac arrest. If you don’t do good CPR there won’t be very much brain/heart to save by the time we get there.
Fast response can save a stroke victim! I know, my husband had one last October, 10 months after a major heart attack (makes a stroke more likely, so I schooled myself). We got him to the hospital w/in 40 minutes, so he was able to get the stroke meds that STOP THE STROKE and any further damage. But it must be administered within 2 hours. Because we knew that we responded fast. He only had very minor damage and ONLY REQUIRED SPEECH THERAPY! Most require speech, physical and occupational therapy. Many need 24/7 assistance. Even if you're not sure, take them to the ER just in case! Better safe than sorry.
I’m not a first responder, however I had friends who worked in EMT and I was trained for first aid and a few other certifications while in school.
Always keep a first aid kit and tourniquet in your car. I’ve had many close calls, luckily only needed it once. Guy ran a red light and I t-boned him. He was uninjured and drove away, however my leg was cut so badly that if I hadn’t used my tourniquet, I would have bled to death.
Also get training for first aid, you never know when you’ll need it. It can save your life, and others lives in a bad situation.
Last thing I’m gonna write here is: when you’re driving, keep the mindset that everyone is a maniac on the road. It’ll keep you prepared to avoid an accident if you need to.
...keep the mindset that everyone is a maniac on the road. ABSOLUTELY! Drive very defensively, be looking both near to you, rear of you, as far ahead as you can see, and always try to visualize somewhere to go if a furball starts. HAVE AN ESCAPE ROUTE in your head at all times.
Ex-Crisis response. Learn how to talk people that are having a panic attack or going through s*icidal thoughts. It's scary from the outside, but fairly simple skill and you don't have to "solve" the situation. Not making it worse is a night and day difference in helping that person pull themselves out of it.
Also, sometimes there is absolutely NOTHING you can do to stop them from committing the act. The whole not making it worse is right on the nose. Also Ditto's response is spot on. ( I worked on a **unalive** hotline for 4 yrs)
Given what recently happened in Florida’s gulf beaches…more people need to know how to escape a rip current.
I got CPR training from a trauma specialist who said: **POOR CPR IS BETTER THAN NO CPR.**
People die of heart attacks while other people stand around doing nothing, because they're afraid of doing the "wrong" thing. Even people who have been trained in CPR are afraid they'll do it "wrong."
**JUST DO SOMETHING!**. My trainer said that it's normal to be freaked out. If all you can remember is *pound on chest*--do that! If all you can think of is *mouth-to-mouth"-- do that! Turn the person on their side, remove anything that's in their mouth... Whatever.
And remember: CPR breaks ribs. That's OK. Easier to survive with cracked ribs than a stopped heart.
Avoid getting out your car on the shoulder or even near the freeway at all costs. Get a flat, drive to the nearest exit. Your rim can be replaced, you can’t be.
Freeways are probably one the most dangerous places to be on the job.
A friend of mine's dad lost his leg after his car got a flat on the highway and he was hit by another car while on the side of the road trying to change the tire. :(
Ex-EMT and ER Nurse
Proper way to help a choking infant, if you don’t support the head properly while delivering back blows, you can seriously mess up their neck.
Know how to check for opiate overdose (Loss of consciousness, pin point pupils, not breathing) and how to administer naloxone. It's free at www.towardtheheart.com.
Many (not all) states in the usa, have made it legal to purchase from a pharmacist without a prescription. Also some groups are giving it away free with lessons on how to administer it. Please remember, The person must receive medical treatment after you administer it. call for emergency services (911) . I have also heard that at times the person will come "out" of it all pissed off you ruined their high, be safe.
My friend works in EMT and with years of experience, his team is like the main team. They know a few things so I tend to listen when he tries to warn people and teach them how and what to do.
We concluded that the majority of people, even though they know what to do in an emergency, tend to panic and get "stuck". They are now offering classes to understand how to react when panic kicks in and as they say, one person who doesn't panic but has less knowledge is far more important than the one who knows all the medical procedures but has panicked and "froze". Many times people couldn't even give a proper address to the dispatch and that causes major delays and can potentially make a difference between life and death.
If you have any of the classes close to you, please attend at least for a few hours, try to learn how to act under stress.
If all fails, dial 911/112 and give as detailed info as possible, try to stay calm and listen for the instructions by the dispatch (they can direct your call to the doctor, firefighter, police officer or anything you might need help with).
Reminds me of the time a co-worker passed out at her desk. I sat with her to make sure she didn't fall to the floor and get hurt while another worker called Security and asked for an ambulance. She was so panicked that she told them we're on the second floor. I immediately shouted, "No, not second! Third floor! Third floor!"
Don't let your child ride on the lawn mower with you!
Please people. If you have a severe fall, DO NOT MOVE. Even if you feel fine, there is still a chance that you have suffered spinal damage. If you are kept still until medical help arrives, you are in a much better chance of recovering.
Only move if you are in immediate danger.
There's a limit. You need to attract attention as fast as possible. I know someone who had a fall and nobody knew for three days. If you don't move within about an hour then your body will seize up and you won't be able to move at all.
If you ever encounter heavily burnt person running to you (They always run in the hope to survive), Don't touch them with your bare hands, your hands might be too hard for their burnt skin and flesh, always touch them with cloth or towel.
When bandaging a 3rd degree burn loosely wrap it with wet or damp cloth, if it hurts thats a good sign because that means less/no nerve damage
If you're in a car accident, especially a busy intersection/roadway, don't just get out; if your car is driveable, get it out of the roadway. If it's not driveable, get yourself out of the street ASAP. Can't count how many times I've almost been struck by drivers not paying attention or just not giving a s**t and driving fast past accident scenes.
I was hit by a drunk driver last week who flung me into oncoming traffic. I was hit again because my car was a giant paperweight. Then as good Samaritans tried to stop and help they were running out of the way to not get hit. At night, on the freeway, people just couldn't see it in time. Lucky the emergency vehicles showed up in 4 minutes to contain it. Long story short, you may be on an accident before any help arrives, slow down because you might make it worse.
ER MD here. If a person collapses and has a cardiac arrest, do not perform mouth to mouth. Just perform high quality chest compressions, continously, until EMS arrives. High quality chest compressions (100 per minute) and appropriate defibrillation are the only interventions that have been shown in the medical literature to lead to positive medical outcomes.
To breathe or not to breathe has been debated back and forth over recent years. No-one disagrees that the chest compressions are the most important, to retain good blood pressure to the brain, but many training organisations still advise doing mouth-to-mouth (or nose) if possible. particularly if you have a second person to help, where you should only need to stop the compressions for about a second. The logic behind the no-m2m advice is that the most crucial thing is to remove CO2 from the brain (more important than supplying oxygen to it) and the compressions will in any case cause some in-out air transfer on their own.
Don't deny a heart attack.
Don't tailgate! I've seen so many people tailgate that are one short break away from an accident. Have at least 3 seconds of distance between you and the car in front of you.
Download the "what three words" app :) every location on the planet has a square and 3 words assigned to it. Helps emergency services find your location faster especially if you are in a difficult to find or vague area.
Wait... I downloaded the app. But if I contact 911 and give them the 3 words, will they be able to use the words to locate me? Or do they have to have the app? Do all 911 services have the app? I have so many questions.
With a sucking chest wound (SCW), seal the front and back wounds so that no air can escape or be brought into the chest cavity. Remember air follows least resistance.
&
The hard band under the Adam's apple is where to cut for an emergency tracheotomy. A PEN DOES NOT WORK! Movie bs...
Second responder here (Red Cross): Know how to put out grease fires, keep the appropriate extinguisher, pot lid, and wherewithal close at hand when cooking.
We see so many fires where folks couldn't put out a grease fire before it jumped to *everything else.*.
De-escalating physical confrontation.
If in the confrontation, be logical. Agree to disagree and leave the situation. We all just want to get home at the end of the day. If observing a physical confrontation, let the proper authorities take care of it, if available. Just like another post said, remind yourself "Is this my emergency?" If it's not your family/friend in the situation, you may not have the whole story. Again, we all just want to get home to our loved ones.
They can't all be number 1 , but they should be. Great advice that will probably save a life at some point
The best one I can think of from working in an emergency control centre is speak normally when on the phone, listen and answer the questions asked. Shouting means we can't hear you, you getting flustered and going away from the phone delays help getting to you. Make sure you have an address or download the app What 3 Words to allow the emergency crews to find you. I've had kids on the phone that have done brilliantly when calling for help, they listen, they tell me what I need to know, they do what I ask them to do. Yet I've had full grown adults actually cause delays because they won't listen to what I'm aksing/telling them to do.
Hey. BoardPanda, is it a good idea to shorten a list of life saving tips?
You know that you can see the rest of them by clicking on the original-count number, right? That the info isn't gone or hidden?
Load More Replies... I especially liked blowing bubbles in the water and spitting into the snow both to determine which way is up.
In this article's title ("30 First Responders Share Do’s And Don’ts In Dangerous Situations That Might Save Your Life") there should be NO apostrophe when pluralizing "Do". It's "Dos and Don'ts". There's an apostrophe in "don'ts" because the word is a contraction of the words "do nots", and the apostrophe takes the place of the letter "o" in "nots". "Dos" is not a contraction, nor is it possessive (only nouns have a possessive form - verbs do not). "Dos" is simply the plural form of the verb "do"
Some great advice here, but why are people rabbiting on about What3words? I've just read the reviews, and they're terrible! Just use Google maps to pinpoint where you are!
Really? I checked an they have at 4.8 in star rating •-• did you only look at the bad reviews?
Load More Replies... They can't all be number 1 , but they should be. Great advice that will probably save a life at some point
The best one I can think of from working in an emergency control centre is speak normally when on the phone, listen and answer the questions asked. Shouting means we can't hear you, you getting flustered and going away from the phone delays help getting to you. Make sure you have an address or download the app What 3 Words to allow the emergency crews to find you. I've had kids on the phone that have done brilliantly when calling for help, they listen, they tell me what I need to know, they do what I ask them to do. Yet I've had full grown adults actually cause delays because they won't listen to what I'm aksing/telling them to do.
Hey. BoardPanda, is it a good idea to shorten a list of life saving tips?
You know that you can see the rest of them by clicking on the original-count number, right? That the info isn't gone or hidden?
Load More Replies... I especially liked blowing bubbles in the water and spitting into the snow both to determine which way is up.
In this article's title ("30 First Responders Share Do’s And Don’ts In Dangerous Situations That Might Save Your Life") there should be NO apostrophe when pluralizing "Do". It's "Dos and Don'ts". There's an apostrophe in "don'ts" because the word is a contraction of the words "do nots", and the apostrophe takes the place of the letter "o" in "nots". "Dos" is not a contraction, nor is it possessive (only nouns have a possessive form - verbs do not). "Dos" is simply the plural form of the verb "do"
Some great advice here, but why are people rabbiting on about What3words? I've just read the reviews, and they're terrible! Just use Google maps to pinpoint where you are!
Really? I checked an they have at 4.8 in star rating •-• did you only look at the bad reviews?
Load More Replies...
