Whether you're lounging at home, knee-deep in work, or simply grabbing a coffee on the go, life has a way of throwing surprises at you. And in those split-second moments of chaos, knowing what to do can be the difference between freezing up and stepping in with confidence. That’s where a few solid, life-saving nuggets come in handy. Because let’s face it, being prepared feels a lot better than being caught off guard.
That’s exactly why we’ve rounded up some helpful nuggets that are not only practical but also surprisingly easy to remember. They come from a viral video shared by Ashley Washington, a photographer and professor who’s built a following of over 168k on TikTok. In her two-part series, she shares straightforward tips and little-known facts that just might save a life.
#1
If you are bitten by a snake, do not attempt to suck the venom out. That is not how that works. It won't work. Don't do that. Try to put wherever you were bitten lower than your heart and get to an emergency room as soon as possible.
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#2
If you need to do CPR on someone and you are untrained on how to do CPR, it is best that you only do chest compressions. If you attempt to deliver rescue breaths, you can cause someone to vomit, to aspirate on that vomit. Um, and it can lead to a worse situation if you are not properly trained in how to do this in CPR, or if you're not in some sort of medical situation, like an actual medical facility. Otherwise, chest compressions are just fine, and you can do chest compressions to stay alive, or you can Do them to Pink Pony Club. So that's another CPR song you can use.
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#3
Always attempt to call 911 even if you were somewhere with no service, very low battery life. When you call 911, it will bounce your signal off of any available tower, including emergency and military towers. Always attempt to call 911 if you need it.
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It’s always better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to basic survival tips. We often scroll past this kind of advice, thinking it’ll never apply to us. But when the moment strikes, knowing what to do can make all the difference.
Whether you’re helping a friend or a stranger, those first few minutes really count. A little knowledge can save lives or at least buy enough time until help arrives. And no, you don’t have to be a doctor to be helpful.
#4
People have always said, what do I do if I encounter a bear? First thing is, try not to encounter a bear in the first place. You know, don't leave food, water, toothpaste, deodorant, anything like that out at the campsite. Don't leave it in your tent with you. Yes, even water, toothpaste. They can still smell it. They will still try and come get it. Do not leave any of that anywhere near you if you are in bear country. If you do happen to encounter a bear, it's … if it's brown, lay down. So if a brown bear tries to attack you, try to cover all of your vital organs. Cover your neck, cover your head, lay down and play dead. If it is black, fight back. If you are attacked by a black bear, the best thing that you can do is fight back. You're likely not gonna survive either encounter. But that's the best thing to do if you cannot distance yourself from the bear or try to get away. If you try to get away, back up facing them. Try to make yourself big, make sounds, but don't turn around and run from them.
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#5
If your car is underwater for any reason, the best thing you can do is swim to the very back of your car where that back window is. Cause your car will sink this way. That's where the last bit of air will be. And you can take your headrest out and stick it in between the glass and the door to try to break through the glass and get out that way. Or if you have the time and ability to think about it, like if you're going off a bridge and you have a bit of a drop, try to roll your windows down so that you're able to break out of them once you're in the water.
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#6
If you are somewhere where pepper spray is not legal, you can carry RAID. RAID shoots further than pepper spray and can blind people, and it's totally legal in most circumstances.
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To better understand how to handle everyday emergencies, we spoke with Dr. Alka Pradhan. She’s a general physician with over 30 years of experience running a clinic in Mumbai. Over the years, she’s seen it all, from fainting episodes to accidental burns. Her advice is practical, straightforward, and could help anyone in a tight situation. “Basic awareness goes a long way,” she said. “Especially when everyone else is panicking.”
“If someone faints, the first thing to check is breathing and pulse,” she explained. If there’s no breathing, start CPR immediately if you’ve been trained. These days, basic CPR and first aid classes are easily available. “It’s something I recommend for everyone, students, office workers, anyone.” You don’t need fancy equipment to be useful in a crisis. Just confidence and a bit of know-how.
#7
Don't try to ration your food or water. Eat when you're hungry, drink when you need water. If you try to ration it out, you will do more harm than good in the long run. And if you're in the desert, do not drink cactus water. I know that this is a misconception and that people do this in cartoons and all such as that. Do not drink cactus water. It will make you sick and it is not worth trying to drink. Same thing, don't drink seawater because it has all that salt in it and it will make you sick and it'll dehydrate you faster than it'll hydrate you.
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#8
If you ever feel like something is out of the ordinary, or you have a weird feeling about something, trust that feeling. Your body has some sort of a sixth sense. Your brain can't take in and acknowledge every piece of information it gets all the time because it would be so overwhelmed that we couldn't function. However, although you may not be interpreting all of these things, your brain is still picking up on all of these things even if you're not consciously aware of them. So if you feel uneasy about a situation, or maybe you feel like somebody's following you, trust your gut. Always. Don't care about being mean or being rude. Always trust your gut because your brain is telling you something is wrong. If you feel like somebody is following you, you can take four left or four right turns. That will put you in a circle. If they are following you, they will go that circle with you. If they are following you, immediately take yourself to the police station or a fire station, somewhere where you would be safe. Don't ever go home or go to your workplace.
#9
If you are exposed to bats in any way, or if you are bitten by a wild animal, please go get rabies treatment. Even if you're around a bat and you don't think you've been bitten, you can get bitten by a bat and not feel it, and rabies is almost 100% lethal. And once you know you have rabies, the way you go out is you stop accepting water, food, and medical help. So it is extremely important if you are bitten by a wild animal, or if you have been around bats of any kind, to please go get checked out and go get rabies treatment just in case.
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Let’s talk about nosebleeds—something most of us get wrong. “Do not tilt the head back,” Dr. Pradhan said firmly. “Instead, lean slightly forward and pinch the soft part of the nose.”
This stops blood from flowing into the throat, which can cause choking. It’s one of those small actions that’s surprisingly effective. And no, tissues stuffed up the nose won’t help here. Keep the pressure steady for 10 minutes.
#10
If you are for some reason involved in a school shooting or a shooting of any kind, don't immediately run where others are running. Take note of where the sound of the bullets are coming from. Especially if you're in a long hallway, this sound can travel in ways that's contradictory to where the shooter actually is. So try to take a second or two, if you have it, to get your bearings and actually determine where that sound is coming from. And make sure that you're not being led astray by it ricocheting off the walls. And in an active shooter situation, the best thing you can do is run, hide, or fight, in that order. If you have to fight, fight for your life. Anything is game. A lot of people get in situations where they're assaulted or they're in danger, and they think, you know, I don't you know, you subconsciously don't wanna hurt people. You don't wanna kill somebody. If it is a life or death situation, there are no rules. You have to remind yourself there are no rules. Try to save your own life.
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#11
Keep Narcan on you. Narcan is for opioid, um, overdose rescues. But you never know when you or somebody else could need it. You can't keep Narcan in your car cause it has to stay in a very medium temperature range. But please keep it with you. You can also Narcan a dog if you have to. There's very few situations in which that would need to be done. But you can Narcan a dog. You can Narcan people more than once. Um, but yeah, that can help you if you ever have an opioid overdose or if you run across somebody who does. Just keep in mind, people typically come out of being Narcan’d very alert, very aggressive, angry. Um, so just keep that in mind. Be safe
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#12
If you are stranded in the woods or on the mountains for any reason, do not leave where you are. Some people will say to follow water, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But if people are coming to look for you, you can get yourself lost by wandering and you make it much harder for rescuers to find you if you're wandering around or leaving where you were. They're going to look for you in the last place that they knew you were.
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When it comes to strokes, Dr. Pradhan says the acronym FAST can be a lifesaver. That stands for Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to call for help. “A stroke doesn’t always look like the dramatic movie scenes,” she warned.
Sometimes the symptoms are subtle, but the damage can be huge. Every second really does count, so call emergency services right away. The faster the response, the better the recovery.
#13
If you are involved in a house fire, one of the best things you can do is keep your doors shut. You can look up images of people who have been in fires and had their doors open versus their door shut. Having your door shut can save your life. The other thing people die from in house fires is smoke inhalation, and it will make you unconscious, get low to the ground, crawl out, get yourself out before helping others. And the best thing you can do is keep your door shut and have a plan of escape.
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#14
If you were impaled by anything, you or someone else, do not remove the thing that has impaled you. It is preventing you from bleeding out. Do not remove it. Keep it in there or keep the wound packed until you can get to medical help. If you take it out, you will likely bleed out. Do not take out anything that has impaled you.
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#15
If you are ever pulled out by a rip current, which if you have been, you know it is very scary; if you're ever pulled out by a rip current, do not try to swim directly back to the shore. Try to swim perpendicular to the shore or, you know, in the same way that the shore is. That will get you further than if you're trying to swim directly back.
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If someone’s having a seizure, your first instinct might be to hold them down. Don’t. “Let the seizure pass naturally while keeping them safe from injury,” she advised.
Turn them gently onto their side and cushion their head. Don’t put anything in their mouth, it won’t help and could cause harm. Stay calm, and if the seizure lasts over five minutes, call for help. Most importantly, stay with them until it’s over.
#16
Wear your own seatbelt. I don't know who's not wearing their seat belts these days, but wear your own seat belt please.
#17
Don't jump into water you can't see through. You never know what's under there. There could be rocks or glass. Anything, anything. People get injured all the time from jumping into water they cannot see through, stepping on broken glass, jumping onto a rock. Do not jump into water that you cannot see through.
#18
If you are cleaning, don't mix bleach with anything. You can create chlorine gas or other very harmful things that could kill you or knock you unconscious. Do not mix bleach with anything other than water.
Burns are another common emergency, especially in the kitchen. “Run cool, not cold water over the burn for at least 10 minutes,” she said. Avoid ice, which can damage the skin further. Don’t pop blisters or apply random home remedies like toothpaste. “Just clean, cool water and gentle care,” she added. If it looks serious, head to a clinic or hospital.
#19
If you think you or someone else you know is having a stroke, the acronym FAST can save your life. The first symptom is face drooping on one or both sides. The second is arms. Try to raise both arms. If you are unable to raise one or the other, you may be having a stroke. The next is S slurred speech, and then T is for time. You need to get to an emergency room as soon as possible.
#20
If you need to, you can perform the Heimlich maneuver on yourself. You make a fist with your thumbs up and get it right underneath your rib cage. You can do this on yourself if you need to.
#21
If you have to pack a wound for any major bleeding, it is generally advised not to try to pack head or chest wounds for the risk of doing extra damage. If you are in communities where there are drug users, or if you are a drug user of any kind, please keep with you fentanyl test strips and Narcan. You may not know when you'll need it, but it could save your life if you do. Please test everything that you put in your body and make sure that you are not ingesting something like fentanyl. A tiny minuscule amount of fentanyl can kill you, and there's really no way to measure when it's produced, how potent it is, or how much is in your supply. So please, test everything that you get. It really could save your life.
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Poisoning might seem rare, but it’s more common than you think. “And TV shows have taught people the wrong things,” Dr. Pradhan noted. Never induce vomiting unless a medical expert tells you to.
“Don’t try to suck out poison or give random antidotes.” Call your local poison control or emergency services immediately. Treatment depends entirely on the substance involved. Guessing could make things worse.
#22
If you were ever in a situation where you are swerving or you've lost control of your vehicle, do not try to over correct the opposite direction you're going. Always turn your steering wheel the way that you are going and let up off the brakes. This can help you survive an incident that you may not otherwise survive, especially if your airbags are gone off and you can't see where you're going. I actually learned this in a defensive driving course that I had to take as a result of an accident that I was in. Um, and it was given by somebody whose child lost their life due to something like this. So it was a really educational course. Don't be afraid to slam on your brakes if you have to. And if you're ever drifting for any reason, turn your wheel the way that you are going.
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#23
With the winter storms approaching, if you are in a situation where you need heat in your house and you no longer have electricity, something you can do is put a terracotta pot on. Any kind of razor, four bricks will work. And put a candle or some other flame underneath it. This will radiate heat and try to keep your house warm. You can also keep your oven open, but for a lot of people you need electricity to do that. But the terracotta pot should be able to help.
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#24
And if you're ever trapped underwater, if you blow a bubble, it will tell you which way is up. A lot of times when you're underwater, you're very disoriented and it's hard to tell which way is up. Always follow the bubbles up.
Heart attacks can hit suddenly and leave you unsure what to do. “Call emergency services immediately,” she said. Try to keep the person calm, sitting upright, and alert. Don’t give them food or water unless advised. “Aspirin might help, but only if they’re not allergic and conscious.” Every second matters in these cases. Your calm response could help keep them stable until help arrives.
#25
When it comes to animals and cars, you should always have your dog or other animal that's in your car either buckled in or in a crash tested crate. The crates aren't always possible for everybody who has small trunks, but that is the best option you have. But otherwise your animal needs to be seat belted into the car. If you have a dog like mine who can undo the seat belt, they make clips specifically made for children with autism so that they cannot step on the seatbelt and unbuckle themselves. This will protect your animal or your dog from being a projectile during a car crash.
#26
If you were looking at a tornado and it doesn't look like it's moving left or right, it's moving towards you. In this case, you need to be prepared.
#27
If you have a child who's in an emergency, tell them to yell something like a curse word, because they're much more likely to get help if they yell a curse word than just yelling help on the playground like all children do.
Finally, Dr. Pradhan recommends carrying basic emergency info on you. It can be a card in your wallet or a note on your phone lock screen. “List your allergies, chronic conditions, and emergency contact.” In a crisis, responders don’t have time to dig for answers. “This little thing can speak for you when you can’t,” she added. It’s a simple habit with a potentially huge impact.
So, which of these posts did you find most useful? Have you ever faced an emergency where quick thinking helped? Let us know in the comments, and maybe send this post to someone you care about. Because the more people who know what to do, the better off we all are.
#28
Unfortunately, it is very easy to drug somebody in their drink. If you are at a bar or a club or anywhere where you are drinking in public, please cover your drink. They make things for this. Cover your drink, take it with you. Keep an eye on it the entire time. It is very easy to drug somebody without them knowing it. Don't give your drink to someone to hold. Either give it back to the bartender or take it with you. Do not leave it alone with anybody. And if you're in a bar, you can always ask For an angel shot. There's different versions of this that mean different things. But if you ask for an angel shot, typically bartenders know that that means you need some sort of help.
#29
If you're ever in a lightning storm and your skin tingles or your hair stands on end, it means a lightning strike is about to hit. You need to get low on the ground or move quickly. When it comes to gun safety, treat every gun like it is loaded. I cannot express this enough. Accidental gunfire kills a lot of people every year. Treat every gun like it is loaded. And don't touch other people's guns or weapons unless you have explicit permission and you know how to work them. Just be safe around guns.
#30
And when it comes to being in vulnerable situations, don't get in your car and get on your phone or sit there forever. Get in your car and leave. Pick your head up. Don't be on your phone inside or outside of a store. Be aware of what's going on around you because people can easily take advantage of that.
#31
If you're ever in a falling elevator, bending your knees or trying to jump at the last second won't actually save you. If you lay flat on the ground and cover your head and face, that is your best chance for survival.
#32
When you are driving, I know it feels great. Don't put your feet up on the dash. Don't put your feet up on the dash because your airbag deploys at around 200 miles an hour and it will easily break your legs and your pelvis.
#33
Water will make a grease fire worse. Try to put a lid on the pot to get rid of the oxygen. Or find another way to get the oxygen from out of the fire. But water will only make the fire worse.
#34
Always lock your doors as soon as you get home. Or if you are not home, immediately lock your door when you come in. Don't wander around. Make that the first thing that you do. Come in your house. Don't stand around and do things. When you're first moving into an apartment or a new home, change all of the locks. Make sure that you have updated keys for the new locks. And then what you can also do is change the length of the screws that are holding your door plate in, which make it harder for someone to kick in your door.
#35
Something you should always keep with you aside from having smoke alarms or having carbon monoxide detectors, is a gas detector. If you have a gas leak, sometimes you may not know it. I can smell if there was a gas leak. We had one recently. I can smell a gas leak. But if you can't, it is very important to have gas detectors to make sure that you are not going to accidentally explode your house. Because something as simple as a light switch turning on while there's a gas leak can cause a major explosion.
#36
There's a phenomenon in psychology called the bystander effect, which says that if you are in an emergency situation, the more people that are around you, the less likely you are to get help because of a diffusion of responsibility. Everybody thinks someone else is more qualified than me to help. Someone else will help. And people have died this way with hundreds of people around them or dozens of people around them because of this diffusion of responsibility. If you are in an emergency, you have to yell instructions. Call 911, I need help. You point somebody out. You, I need you to help me.
#37
The safest place to be on a plane in the event of a crash is in the very back, in the middle seat.
#38
People die from getting trampled to death very regularly, a lot of times at concerts or festivals. If you were at a concert or festival and you're being pushed around, please make sure you have your footing. And if you are thrown to the ground, try as soon as you can to get up or to cover important organs like your head, your face, your neck, your chest, because people really do get trampled on the ground.
#39
If you are over the age of 45, it is advised that you do not shovel snow because you are at higher risk of a cardiovascular event and you can have a heart attack from doing excess work out in the cold. If you are driving and the gas gets stuck, the accelerator gets stuck, the best thing that you can do is put both feet on the brake, push as hard as you can, put your car into neutral, and if possible, try to pull the emergency brake and call 911 immediately.
#40
Most of the time, anybody picked up by a hurricane or a tornado will survive. If you are very drunk, that's because you don't tend to tense up your body. And so when you're dropped by that tornado, you don't tend to break things as much. This is why drunk drivers survive car accidents more often than people who are not drunk. This is not me saying go get drunk if there's a hurricane or a tornado, but it does increase your chance of survival if you were to be picked up and thrown by that.
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#41
I know a lot of places open carry is legal and a lot of people concealed carry. But if you have a gun and it is made aware that you have a gun, you are more likely to be shot during an assault or an attack. If you do carry, please carry concealed. Do not open carry. You are much more likely to be targeted during an attack.
#42
Alcohol, tobacco, and drug withdrawal can be fatal. If you have a serious issue with alcohol, drugs, or tobacco, please do not try to quit cold turkey without medical assistance. This can kill you in some cases.
#43
If you think you are having a heart attack, which, please look up the symptoms—the symptoms for heart attacks are very different from men to women. For men it is the standard, like chest tightness, feeling like something sitting on your chest, having trouble breathing, arm pain or numbness. For women it is similar symptoms to that. But one of the biggest symptoms for women is nausea. So please, if you have any doubts, get it checked out. But what you can do on your way to the hospital, if you have no other way to get there, you know where you're unable to call 911, is to cough really hard and to keep coughing from deep in your chest. This can help you if you have access to baby aspirin. Chewing baby aspirin can also help widen your blood vessels a little bit so that you can buy yourself some time.
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#44
If you get a viral illness like norovirus, Lysol wipes will not help you. Hand sanitizer will not help you. This is a common misconception. You need medical grade wipes that you need to use gloves for or to wash your hands and arms thoroughly. Hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes will not cut it. You need medical grade wipes. So either get those or, I don't know, but if somebody gets it, you're gonna get it.
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