Save Your Life in an Emergency with Common Objects and Smarts

Reader’s Digest lists 12 life-or-death situations and the actions you can take to save yourself when you can’t count on aid from anyone else—including some advice that might surprise you.

You’re gushing blood—and getting scared. Forget about tourniquets, says Dr. Schneider of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Use your hand or a clean cloth, paper towels, a scarf, or any fabric you can grab, and push down on the wound until the bleeding stops. Tourniquets, which every Boy Scout learned how to make back in the day, are now a first-aid no-no.

The article covers everything from bear attacks and poison to impalement and heart attacks. Some are obvious (don’t we all know about performing a self-Heimlich with a chair?), but in all there are some great tips worth adding to your survivalist repertoire. Got a few clever life-savers of your own? Let’s hear about them in the comments.