Every materialistic thing that you can think of is less valuable when compared with your own life. You are responsible for your own life, and so you should be aware of all the dos and don’ts when you face an emergency.
There is no limit to the types and scenarios of troubles that a person can face everyday but being a responsible human being; you must be aware of how to tackle these situations to the best of your abilities.
Car accidents, fire, earthquakes, or floods are commonly known and occurring emergencies.
Let’s first talk about the Dos for any emergency:
- Keep fire-extinguishing things near you
Sand buckets, fire extinguishers, and fire safety blankets at your office and homes are essential. They provide you preventative fire protection against fire. Fire safety blankets are made up of fiberglass material, which acts as a barrier between your body and fire.
These blankets should be placed in places where a fire is most likely to cause harm and more comfortable to reach.
The kitchen and pantries are the most suitable place to keep fire blankets. If any mishap in the kitchen happens fire blanket can conveniently be used to extinguish the fire.
These safety blankets are easy to use for everyone and require no prior training like fire extinguishers. Extinguishers are not easy to operate, especially not by children, but these blankets are safe to use and comfortable at the same time.
- Keep a first aid kit with you
A first aid kit includes all the essential medical products to minimize small injuries. Bandages, ointments, gloves, gauze dressings, tweezers, and safety pins are the things mostly found in every type of first-aid kits.
These essential items are necessary to provide someone treatment for any wound or burn. First-aid kits act as a lifesaver until the paramedics come for your help. These first aid kits should be kept in your homes, offices, and cars as well.
These things could save your life in an emergency. Not everyone is a doctor or has professional medical training, but these safety first aid kits can effectively prevent a significant loss.
- Call the relevant authorities
An immediate response from the authorities can be life-saving. As soon as you face an emergency, be mindful and call the local authorities.
Often people start being a hero and try resolving crises themselves. This approach can lead to more harm, both to people and the property as well.
The authorities are trained specially for such incidents, and the job should be left to professionals only. It will not only save you from any potential harm but also make authorities’ job a bit easier than in the case where people intervene themselves.
Road accidents are the main events where medical officers are mostly involved in assisting. In the US, more than 38000 people die every year because of road accidents.
Image source Pexel
- Make sure the alarms are working properly
Fire and theft alarms are the first steps towards living a safe life. It would be best to make sure that the smoke and theft alarm batteries are working correctly.
It will ensure that you are notified immediately whenever such incidents occur and react most appropriately.
Kitchen activities can often result in excessive smoke or even fire in worse conditions. The smoke and fire detection alarm in the kitchen should be efficient in their work.
As soon as the detectors detect fire, they should sprinkle water to prevent any further damage. Efficient alarms have their database connected to the local authorities, and they automatically report to the first responders about the accident.
If you hear an intrusion alarm, find a secure place where no one can easily find you. Upon hearing a smoke alarm, try to find the source of the smoke and put it out.
If you are unable to do that, immediately evacuate the building. Informing the officials should be your first move in both scenarios.
You should perform a regular check on the alarms to make sure that they are working efficiently. These trial tests should be done every month.
You can check ACLS certification requirements further for more details on getting yourself more knowledgeable when in an emergency.
Now let’s talk about the don’ts for any emergency
- Don’t panic and lose your calm
With a sound and calm mind, any situation can be mended in your favor. The same applies to all emergencies. Instead of stressing about the trouble you face, be mindful and devise a safe strategy.
You are not just responsible for yourself but for others around you as well. Seeing you in panic can cause your family to act in the same way, and the situation could become chaos in no time, leading to unwanted results.
Stress is the most significant cause of making hasty and unforeseen decisions that could immediately fire back at you.
Keeping your calm and thinking about the next step before doing it will make sure that you make a sensible decision on which your safety is relying.
Many parents start losing their calm when they see their children in the kitchen with fire spreading around them.
It is entirely understandable, but moments like these require quick thinking and strong nerves. Stressing out will only put you and your child in further danger.
- Don’t use the elevator
In an emergency, you should always take stairs to exit a place. Elevators might get stopped at any time, and you might be stuck in them unless anyone comes to your rescue.
The uncertainty of elevators makes them so risky to use in emergencies like a fire or earthquake. Elevators operate on electricity, and if the power is out, you will have no way of getting out of them. So, the best choice is to take stairs to exit a building.
- Don’t use your phone unnecessarily
In case of a bigger calamity like flooding, hurricane, or tsunami, avoid making unnecessary calls. If you are trying to reach your family and inform them about your safety or ask them about their safety, do this by text message.
You should only call the local authorities. Too many calls can tie up the telephone lines and can cause severe network issues as well. If non-important calls jam up the lines, it will affect the efficiency of the first respondents.
Tied up telephone lines will restrict communication between the authorities and those in dire need of assistance.
- Don’t lite a match or smoke if you smell something
It appears to be a minor thing to mention but lighting a matchstick or smoke near a gas source has been the most significant cause of causing a fire.
If you smell something bad, make sure that you open the windows and switch on the ventilating fans to remove the gas from the building.
The next step that you should do is to find the source of that smell. If you cannot do so, make sure that everyone evacuates the building, and the local authorities are informed.
Bottom Line:
All these steps will be the deciding factor for your life and death. Make sure you don’t ignore these crucial steps if you ever face an emergency.
Your life and the life of people near you depend on these and many such safety precautionary steps. Stay safe!
