As you prepare for a busy night of trick-or-treating, AMR Mississippi wants to make sure you keep safety in mind this year.
Research has found that a child is more likely to be hit by a car on Halloween than on any other day of the year. Injuries from falls are also common.
To make sure it’s the safest Halloween yet, follow these 13 tips from paramedics at AMR:
- Be sure an adult stays with the children at all times. Do not let the group split up.
- Decide on a definite route and timetable before leaving your house. Finish your trip before dark.
- Costumes should be brightly-colored and reflect light. Stripe reflective tape across the front and back and on the shoes.
- Be certain the children can see where they’re going. Use make-up on the kids’ faces, not masks. Masks are hard to see through and breathe through. Avoid hats, helmets, wigs and beards.
- Costumes should fit well, not so loose as to trip over or snag on things. Wear flat shoes with closed toes that are the right size for the child. Avoid over-sized shoes such a clown would wear.
- Costumes must be flame-retardant all over, including capes.
- Carry flashlights, never candles or torches. Trick-or-treat only in well-lighted areas.
- Keep at least one of each child’s hands free. Instead of letting a child carry a candy bag by hand, add a strap to the bag and drape the bag over the child’s shoulder. Do not wear monster gloves. Be sure the bag doesn’t drag on the ground.
- Stay on sidewalks, walk facing traffic, cross streets only at intersections, don’t run across lawns and don’t jump ditches.
- Approach only those houses with outside lights on. Do not go into homes of people you don’t know.
- Do not eat any treats until the group returns home and an adult examines each bag. Eat nothing that is even slightly suspicious. Look for items that appear to have been unwrapped and then re-wrapped.
- Dress warmly, stay alert and keep handy a small first aid kit for scraped knees and other little injuries. If a serious injury happens, dial 911 immediately.
- Consider a Halloween party at home or attend a local well-planned haunted house, instead of taking risks with door-to-door trick-or-treating.
