With the bush fire season coming up, there are countless things to remember and prepare for: Making a safety plan, packing a “go bag”, making sure your pets are taken care of — the list goes on.

As wildfires continue to devastate parts of California, checking on friends and family in the area is often a difficult proposition. Thousands have had to evacuate their homes, and many of those evacuees are in situations where they might have limited access to the power for their phones to let people know they’re OK.

It may seem like our kids aren’t listening to us, but new research shows that in an emergency, a mum’s voice is more likely to wake children than a standard tone alarm.

Life is precarious, and nothing makes you appreciate that fact quite like a Reddit-generated list of potential death traps. On the upside, one person’s anxiety-provoking tip might be another person’s life-saving knowledge.

If your pet gets injured, your normal first-aid kit could suffice for most things. But it's a good idea to prepare a specific kit for your dog or cat so that you can be sure you will have everything you need in an emergency.

Whether you’re a university student about to attend their first party, or a grownup with friends who sometimes party a little too hard, it’s good to know what to do when things get out of hand. Here are some of the top tips and skills that can help you help others.

There was always a pink blanket in the trunk of the family car when I was growing up. It took up a lot of space but could never be removed, because what if the car broke down in winter? We would all have to huddle under the blanket while we waited for help. Driving without a blanket is just asking for trouble.

Coin cell or "button" batteries are small, shiny, and feel tingly on the tongue. If you're a toddler, that puts them into the category of "belongs in my mouth". But a swallowed button battery can begin burning a hole through a kid's oesophagus in hours, causing pain, severe injury, and sometimes complications leading to death.

Remember when you bought a new can opener because you thought you lost your old one? What do you plan on doing with that half-used roll of duct tape that's collecting dust in your garage? The last time you used that flashlight in the kitchen junk drawer was to pretend to be a jedi, wasn't it? These are all items you probably have lying around that you can consolidate into a home emergency kit. It might just save you and your family's lives.

The recent and terrifying false missile alert in Hawaii has everyone asking, "What if it happened here?" While statistically, your hometown is probably not a nuclear target, historian Alex Wellerstein's NUKEMAP shows you what it would look like.

Due to the current state of the world, and nonstop media coverage of tragic events, we're more on edge in public spaces than ever before. But reacting before you think can be just as dangerous to yourself and others as the perceived threat - especially when you're in a crowded environment.

Hey there preppers! Remember when we talked about Doomsday Prepping for Non-Paranoid People? About how, in these uncertain times, we should all have a well-stocked emergency kit, or in my case, an emergency cabinet? If you acquired the basics of water, food and gear six months ago, now is the the time to open your kit and check that your supplies are still functional, edible and potable. You don't want to want to be mid-disaster and realise your batteries leaked corroded crusty goo all over the Kind bars.

Video: Back in the '50s and '60s, your home wasn't complete if you didn't have your own fallout shelter. This classic educational video shows you how to build your own.

If you live near a coast in the US, you've probably been biting your nails as Irma was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane, and the category numbers climbed. But what do the categories mean, exactly?

It happened. Bright, white light flashed before your eyes, the power of the sun licked your skin, and you felt a shock wave of dust and debris plow through the city you call home. You're one of the lucky ones, for now, but your struggle isn't over yet -- not even close.

You do not want your toddler to drown. I don't want your toddler to drown, either. Swimming lessons are great, and can help them be more comfortable in water, but please don't rely on them to give you peace of mind at the pool.

In the wake of an attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester that left 22 dead and over 50 injured, Facebook activated its Safety Check feature, giving users in the area the opportunity to assure friends and family they were safe.

Flood waters may not look all that threatening on TV, especially if you're a skilled swimmer. But flash floods are actually incredibly dangerous, and they can strike with little to no warning. This is what you should do if you or your vehicle gets swept away by the raging waters.

NSW is currently shivering its way through one of the worst cold snaps in memory. Last night, Sydney temperatures dropped to 10 degrees or under - which was a rude shock after weeks of balmy Autumn weather. While we haven't reached frostbite season yet, it can never hurt to be prepared. This infographic explains what to do when Jack Frost tries to bit your nose off.