I am by no means an expert, but here are a couple of options that come to mind. I came up with most of these by thinking “what kind of emergency are you reasonably likely to run into at some point, and what can you do to mitigate them?”
Learn some measure of first aid, or at least the Heimlich maneuver and CPR.
Have an emergency kit at home, and have a plan for dealing with natural disasters (fire, storms, etc). If you live with anyone, make sure that everyone is on the same page about this.
On the financial side, have an emergency fund. This might not impress your friends, but given how likely financial emergencies (e.g. unexpectedly losing a job) are relative to other emergencies, this is a good thing to plan for nonetheless. I think the standard advice is to have something on the order 3-6 months of income tucked away for a rainy day.
3-6 months? People don’t go on piling up savings indefinitely? How else do you retire? I mean… there is state pension in the country I live in but I would not count it not going bust in 30 years so I always assumed I will have what I save and then maybe the state pays a bonus.
The 3-6 months is in a liquid savings account. Beyond that, you want your money in investments that will earn interest. They will be more volatile, so aren’t advisable as an emergency fund. They can also be harder to access.
You are of course entirely correct in saying that this is far too little to retire on. However, it is possible to save without being able to liquidate said saving; for example by paying down debts. The Emergency Fund advice is that you should make a point to have enough liquid savings tucked away to tide you over in a financial emergency before you direct your discretionary income anywhere else.
Ah… I see. We keep most of our savings liquid. Safe i.e. government guaranteed investments at the biggest banks here are like 0.5% a year (the Kapitalsparbuch thing here in Austria), sot I don’t give a damn. And I would rather not gamble on the stock exchange. If I would see inflation I would care, but then I would also see more decent interest rates.
I think its a minimum of 3-6 months in a place where you can access it on short notice. of course the most common advice I see around LW, and other “If I knew this when I was 20 years younger...” type posts is—its never too early to be saving money up and building wealth.
Split it into “commutes by car” and “commutes by public transport”. I know when I used to own a car I was ridiculously prepared, even having a shovel in the trunk. Now with the subway, basically nothing—I have a whole city full of services to help me or anyone else in need. Or five hundred people on the subway train with various skills and items.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen them in regular over-the-counter emergency kits, but making sure you have a tourniquet within (and know it’s use) reach can’t hurt. A pocket mask is great, too. An AED would probably be amazing if you have over a thousand US (or it’s equivalent) dollars to spend. Emergency treatments in general change pretty drastically every few years, so it would be an ongoing investment.
Have a good, working knowledge of what diabetes looks like, and various cardiac issues. While it may never happen to you, recognizing it and calling for help might save someone.
The training, naturally, is probably the hardest part to acquire, but I don’t think anyone who maximizes learning efficiency would have any trouble. The main issue is finding the right teachers.
While I could come up with a curriculum (I teach very basic survival/emergency treatment regularly) and put it in a nice app or something, the nature of those treatments are constantly changing, and I wouldn’t in good conscience disseminate that information without knowing that students would be able to stay up to date.
Until then, an EMT course can’t hurt. If you have stable employment and decent hours, you might be able to take advantage of night classes.
I suppose the problem with that statement was ‘good’ and ‘working’. It is far easier to simply memorize the symptoms and general knowledge, see what it looks like on assorted Youtube videos and browsing Figure 1, which is free and accessible to the public, than it is to acquire experience with it. This is the cheapest route, and getting that initial knowledge uses the same study techniques you would use to learn, say, microeconomics.
You don’t need too much (EMT and CPR) to be certified to become an Emergency Room Technician, solely to volunteer (as opposed to looking for employment) at an emergency room on weekends. The job mostly involves taking vitals, cleaning, and being ready to assist medical staff with menial labor. It’s probably the cheapest way to do it that I can think of. Close observation of what the doctors and nurses are doing would yield enough experience to recognize frequent issues surrounding diabetic and cardiac emergencies. EMT and CPR would incur the most costs, besides time on weekends.
Keep a Seat belt cutter and window breaker in your glove compartment.
I would like to see some data on whether they are useful, that is, how likely are you to find yourself in a situation where having them in your glove compartment will be important.
I am by no means an expert, but here are a couple of options that come to mind. I came up with most of these by thinking “what kind of emergency are you reasonably likely to run into at some point, and what can you do to mitigate them?”
Learn some measure of first aid, or at least the Heimlich maneuver and CPR.
Keep a Seat belt cutter and window breaker in your glove compartment. And on the subject, there are a bunch of other things that you may want to keep in your car as well.
Have an emergency kit at home, and have a plan for dealing with natural disasters (fire, storms, etc). If you live with anyone, make sure that everyone is on the same page about this.
On the financial side, have an emergency fund. This might not impress your friends, but given how likely financial emergencies (e.g. unexpectedly losing a job) are relative to other emergencies, this is a good thing to plan for nonetheless. I think the standard advice is to have something on the order 3-6 months of income tucked away for a rainy day.
3-6 months? People don’t go on piling up savings indefinitely? How else do you retire? I mean… there is state pension in the country I live in but I would not count it not going bust in 30 years so I always assumed I will have what I save and then maybe the state pays a bonus.
The 3-6 months is in a liquid savings account. Beyond that, you want your money in investments that will earn interest. They will be more volatile, so aren’t advisable as an emergency fund. They can also be harder to access.
You are of course entirely correct in saying that this is far too little to retire on. However, it is possible to save without being able to liquidate said saving; for example by paying down debts. The Emergency Fund advice is that you should make a point to have enough liquid savings tucked away to tide you over in a financial emergency before you direct your discretionary income anywhere else.
Ah… I see. We keep most of our savings liquid. Safe i.e. government guaranteed investments at the biggest banks here are like 0.5% a year (the Kapitalsparbuch thing here in Austria), sot I don’t give a damn. And I would rather not gamble on the stock exchange. If I would see inflation I would care, but then I would also see more decent interest rates.
I think its a minimum of 3-6 months in a place where you can access it on short notice. of course the most common advice I see around LW, and other “If I knew this when I was 20 years younger...” type posts is—its never too early to be saving money up and building wealth.
Split it into “commutes by car” and “commutes by public transport”. I know when I used to own a car I was ridiculously prepared, even having a shovel in the trunk. Now with the subway, basically nothing—I have a whole city full of services to help me or anyone else in need. Or five hundred people on the subway train with various skills and items.
Very good ideas. Could be improved upon thus:
seat belt and window cutter for your key ring—always present, in the bus, train, other peoples cars.
Practice emergency procedures. To be actually able to perform them under stress.
Always carry a compact emergency kit with band-aid and one or two pads. Possibly a rescue blanket in your backpack.
Always have some cash handy (may depend on your country, municipality).
Quickclot:http://www.amazon.com/QuikClot-Advanced-Clotting-Sponge-1-75/dp/B00HJTH22E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433129845&sr=8-1&keywords=quickclot
(ref = slate star)
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen them in regular over-the-counter emergency kits, but making sure you have a tourniquet within (and know it’s use) reach can’t hurt. A pocket mask is great, too. An AED would probably be amazing if you have over a thousand US (or it’s equivalent) dollars to spend. Emergency treatments in general change pretty drastically every few years, so it would be an ongoing investment.
Have a good, working knowledge of what diabetes looks like, and various cardiac issues. While it may never happen to you, recognizing it and calling for help might save someone.
The training, naturally, is probably the hardest part to acquire, but I don’t think anyone who maximizes learning efficiency would have any trouble. The main issue is finding the right teachers.
While I could come up with a curriculum (I teach very basic survival/emergency treatment regularly) and put it in a nice app or something, the nature of those treatments are constantly changing, and I wouldn’t in good conscience disseminate that information without knowing that students would be able to stay up to date.
Until then, an EMT course can’t hurt. If you have stable employment and decent hours, you might be able to take advantage of night classes.
Knowing where the AEDs are in your workplace is a good idea, too!
How do you expect people who are not doctors or nurses to acquire that?
I suppose the problem with that statement was ‘good’ and ‘working’. It is far easier to simply memorize the symptoms and general knowledge, see what it looks like on assorted Youtube videos and browsing Figure 1, which is free and accessible to the public, than it is to acquire experience with it. This is the cheapest route, and getting that initial knowledge uses the same study techniques you would use to learn, say, microeconomics.
You don’t need too much (EMT and CPR) to be certified to become an Emergency Room Technician, solely to volunteer (as opposed to looking for employment) at an emergency room on weekends. The job mostly involves taking vitals, cleaning, and being ready to assist medical staff with menial labor. It’s probably the cheapest way to do it that I can think of. Close observation of what the doctors and nurses are doing would yield enough experience to recognize frequent issues surrounding diabetic and cardiac emergencies. EMT and CPR would incur the most costs, besides time on weekends.
I would like to see some data on whether they are useful, that is, how likely are you to find yourself in a situation where having them in your glove compartment will be important.
How do you determine whether a seat belt cutter/window breaker is a good one? Should you test it on an old rag or something?
I’m afraid I don’t know. You might get better luck making this question a top level post.