Every day, thousands of men, women and children are faced with an emergency that can cause serious damage or even death. And many are unaware how to handle the situation in order to minimize injury or prevent fatalities.

Educating yourself about how to handle emergency situations is the best tool for survival – either your own or someone else’s. Taking a few moments to learn about how to take appropriate emergency measures now can increase your emergency IQ, as well as ensure you did everything you could when faced with a crisis.

What deems a situation an emergency?

An emergency is a situation where something is unusual, which can lead to the harm of a person or group of people– either something looks different than normal, smells wrong, sounds odd, appears out of place or maybe even a person is acting abnormal.

Here are some more common emergency situations involving people:

• Someone is screaming or yelling
• Someone has lost consciousness
• Someone is giving off body language that says they are hurt (clutching chest, leg, etc.)
• Someone can’t talk and looks panicked
• Someone is bleeding

And some emergency situations involving environment:

• Something smells funny (gas leak, chemicals, etc.)
• You hear an explosion
• You see fire
• You hear screaming
• You hear tires screeching, glass breaking or a crashing noise

It can be easier to recognize an emergency in some instances, while others may take a little observation. For instance, driving upon a car accident can immediately click in your brain as an emergency, but actually realizing that a person is disoriented or uncomfortable may take a little more observation.

Whatever the case, once you are sure you have an emergency on your hands, you have to act quickly. But before you jump in head first, follow these simple rules provided by the American Red Cross:

Check – the first thing you must do in an emergency is check the scene and the victim(s). Note everything about it that makes it an emergency - figure out how many victims there are, note their medical state (are they conscious, bleeding, etc.), and look around the environment to see if any other potential harm could happen to them or yourself. Also note if there are any other witnesses that can help you during this time.

Call – the next thing to do in an emergency situation is to call 911. Either have yourself or another person make the call. Let them know the emergency, how many victims and their physical/mental state.

Care – once 911 has been called and the scene is secure, help the victim(s). If there is more than one victim, always begin helping the one who is in the worst state – unconscious, not breathing, etc. If someone is conscious – can cry, walk around or let you know where they are injured, they can be cared for after those who are less fortunate.