First aid for a snake bite
There are many rules out there explaining how to behave in emergency situations. But are all of them really that effective?
We have found out that some of those survival tips are actually myths that are not only useless but also potentially dangerous.
Snake venom enters the bloodstream extremely quickly, and it doesn’t accumulate at the bitten area. So trying to suck it out is ineffective. Moreover, putting your mouth on the bite may get venom into your mouth and esophagus.
What to do if you get lost in the forest
The best way for a bite victim to prevent poison from quickly moving through the bloodstream is to remain calm, keep the wound below the level of the heart, drink plenty of liquid, and, of course, try to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.
You might have heard that the first thing you have to do if you get lost in the wilderness is to find some food. This is not entirely true. A healthy person can live without food for quite a long time: up to 6 weeks.
Sucking on a Stone for Hydration
But finding a source of water and building a shelter where you can hide from extreme weather are your first priorities.
While this myth has been passed on for ages, there is no basis behind it. While sucking on a rock will help you produce saliva, it is not actually hydrating.
How to build a great shelter
It’s a cure for dry mouth, but not dehydration.
Before you get started on a suitable shelter, you should assess your surroundings and weather conditions. You need shelter to protect you from wind, rain, or scorching sun. But just building a lean-to isn’t enough.
How to find water in the desert
The cold ground will literally suck the heat right out of you at night unless you build a layer between your body and the ground.
There is only one type of barrel cactus out there that contains drinkable water. You can also get moisture from the opuntia. But most of the time, cacti are poisonous.
How NOT to Treat Frostbite
Drinking the fluid inside them will make you sick, causing you to vomit up precious liquid and leaving you more dehydrated.
You’ve probably heard that rubbing your skin together when cold creates heat through friction, and while that is true and works for less extreme temperatures, it does NOT work for frost-bitten skin.
Drinking Liquor Will Warm You Up?
Frostbite occurs when ice crystals form in your skin and tissues, so when you rub your bitten skin, the ice crystals actually lacerate the surrounding tissue, preventing you from healing.
You’ve probably heard this myth time and time again, alcohol makes you feel warm inside after all. But the science behind what happens when you drink proves otherwise!
Letting a Tired Hypothermic Victim Sleep
When you imbibe, your skin-surface blood vessels and capillaries actually dilate, dropping your core temperature even faster. The better, smarter option would be to drink hot cocoa or tea if possible.
While this might seem like a good idea on the base-level, recovering hypothermic victims are in shock and any lapse in consciousness could be very hard for them to get out of … ala coma.
How to survive a bear attack
Bears don’t want to attack, much less eat you. So in most cases you just need to back away slowly, keeping a close eye on the bear.
You Can Eat Anything Animals Eat
Keep your distance. This will show the bear that you don’t have any pretensions of its territory.
Despite shared biology, there are enough differences between us and the animals around us for this myth to be silly. Our stomachs have evolved to eat certain foods, and a lot of flora and fauna out in the wild is severely toxic to us.
How to know which plants are safe to eat and which are toxic
Only eat food that you are 1000% certain what it is, or pay the consequences.
In fact, some berries and mushrooms that are deadly to humans aren’t poisonous to many animals and birds. So the only way to tell an edible plant from a poisonous one is to accurately identify the species of the individual mushroom or berry.
How to find direction by tree moss
Moss can grow on all sides of a tree, depending on environmental conditions. Don’t rely on this popular myth while trying to find your way out of the forest, or you will get lost.
Drinking Your Own Pee Can Hydrate You
Here are the ways to tell direction without a compass.
While Bear Grylls did it once on TV, it is not a good idea UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES to drink your own urine. Urine is full of your bodies waste, and reintroducing it into your body will 9 times outta 10 result in vomiting, which will waste precious hydration and energy from your already dehydrated body.
How to treat hypothermia
Although drinking urine is a bad idea, if you are in dire straights in a hot climate, damping your clothing with your urine can help cool you off. Hey it’s better than dying, I guess.
Never rub the frostbitten areas as this may cause further tissue damage. You also shouldn’t use hot water or a heating lamp to warm the victim.
Building a Fire in a Cave is a Bad Idea
Treatment like this may end up causing shock to the victim’s body. Instead, you should warm the person’s core up gradually, preferably with blankets and some warm water bottles under their armpits
While cavemen have been shown doing it in movies for ages, it is actually a pretty risky move. Heat causes rocks to expand, and expanding rocks are weaker rocks.
A Hot Tub Will Cure Hypothermia
And unless you want the cave to fall in on you, you are better off setting up your fire at the mouth of your cave-dwelling.
While rewarming is the main treatment for someone whose body temperature has fallen below healthy levels, dropping them into a hot tub will most likely put them into shock, potentially killing them from a heart attack. Instead, give the victim some skin-to-skin contact (ie.
cuddling) or put hot water bottles under their armpits.