Tips to have a safe Halloween
Fears of potentially poisoned candy may not be the biggest risk this Halloween. Local health experts who see emergency room visits share what kinds of injuries they see during the spookiest time of the year.
Medical Director of the Tennity Emergency Department at Eisenhower Health, Dr. Euthym Kontaxis, shares what he usually sees at the ER every year during the spooky season.
"General injuries, like falling and hurting themselves or costume injuries," said Kontaxis. "Sometimes masks or coverings to the face can cause respiratory issues-- you have to be very careful in small children under the age of two, that nothing could be suffocating them."
Other common ER visits include getting sick from eating too much candy and getting cut while carving pumpkins.
"If you're going to do this properly, you should use a sharp knife, and you should wear a protective glove on the other hand when you're doing it if you can," said Kontaxis.
Local parent Ernesto Draayer plans to celebrate Halloween with his kids. However, they're not doing the typical treat-or-treating festivities.
"This year, we're going to keep it safe and not be on the street, we're going to go to the park, there's a trunk or treat in Desert Hot Springs," said Draayer. "So that way, the kids don't have to be on the street or take candy from people's houses that they don't really know, or it's not in public."
Research shows that Halloween is the deadliest day for child pedestrian deaths.
According to a 2012 State Farm analysis, children are twice as likely to die on Halloween than on any other day of the year as they trick-or-treat along the streets. More than 70% of the accidents happened away from an intersection or crosswalk.
Cal Fire tweeted out some of their Halloween safety tips Monday morning. Their tips include:
- Use glow-in-the-dark reflective tape on your costume
- To be seen easily, costumes should be made of light-colored material
- Do not allow children to carry sharp sticks or other objects that could cause injury to themselves or others
- If you are driving on Halloween, take care and watch out for trick-or-treaters who will be too busy to watch out for you
- Closely inspect all candy before allowing children to eat it
- Discard any unwrapped treats from a stranger