Halloween Safety Tips from Bachus & Schanker
Using safety tips and some common sense can help you make the most of your Halloween season. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, the most common injuries on Halloween have nothing to do with candy! Instead, many children visit the hospital for eye injuries, burns, and collisions with cars.
“The key to Halloween safety for all age groups is adult supervision, says Steven E. Krug, M.D., FAAP, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine.”
This year on Halloween, consider these recommendations:
- Use flame-resistant fabrics for costumes, wigs and accessories. Candles and jack-o’-lanterns on porches and walkways can ignite flammable costumes
- Choose soft or flexible props to avoid injuries in case of unexpected falls. Find hats or makeup instead of vision impairing masks.
- Make sure that cars can see you! Use flashlights and costumes outlined with reflective tape to make spooky revelers more obvious.
- Parents- accompany kids walking door-to-door, and confine trick-or-treating to familiar areas. Never enter a stranger’s house!
- Be careful when crossing the street. Make sure to look in both directions and make sure that there are no cars coming. If the street has a stop light, wait until the cross walk light tells you that it’s okay to cross now, but still check before you cross, look both ways. Stick to sidewalks, cross at corners and avoid darting from house to house. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing the traffic
- When trick-or-treaters arrive home, check their candy. Discard spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious items, but realize that tampering is rare.
Photo: pinksherbert on Flickr
