KANSAS
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT
BILL GRAVES, GOVERNOR
Gary R. Mitchell, Secretary

October 18, 1998

Contact: Jan Stegelman, 785-296-1223

Keeping the Treat in Your Child's Halloween

"Many parents don't know that Halloween can be one of the most dangerous nights of the year for children," said Jan Stegelman, Coordinator of Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition. "Children must be outfitted in safe costumes and parents should review safety tips with their children before they go out trick-or-treating."

Pedestrian injuries, burns and falls account for the majority of injuries on Halloween. To help make sure your child's Halloween is safe, the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition recommends the following safety precautions:

• Accompany young children on their trick-or-treat rounds.
• Attach the name, address and phone number (including area code) of children under age 12 to their clothes.
• Teach your child his or her phone number. Make sure your child has change for a phone call in case they have a problem away from home.
• Instruct children to travel only in familiar areas and along a pre-established route.
• Instruct children of all ages never to enter a home or an apartment building unless accompanied by an adult.
• Set a time for children to return home.
• Restrict trick-or-treating visits to homes with porch or outside lights illuminated.
• Remove breakable items or obstacles such as tools, ladders and children's toys from your steps, lawn and porch. Keep jack-o-lanterns lit with candles away from landings or doorsteps where costumes might brush against the flame.
• Tell children to bring their treats home before eating them. Parents should check treats to ensure that items have not been tampered with and are safety sealed. Be careful with fruit. Inspect the surface closely for punctures or holes and cut it open before allowing a child to eat it.

On Halloween night, cumbersome costumes and blinding masks can make walking safely through dark neighborhoods difficult for children. The following tips can help prevent fall-related injuries:

• Apply face paint or cosmetics directly to the face. It is safer than a loose-fitting mask that can obstruct a child's vision. If a mask is worn, be certain it fits securely. Cut the eye holes large enough for full vision.
• Give trick-or-treaters flashlights.
• Make costumes short enough to avoid tripping.
• Secure hats so they will not slip over children's eyes.
• Dress children in shoes that fit. Adult shoes are not safe for trick-or-treaters. The larger size makes it easier for them to trip and fall.
• Allow children to carry only flexible knives, swords or other props. Anything they carry could injure them if they fall.
• Teach children not to cut across yards. Lawn ornaments and clotheslines are hidden hazards in the dark. Tell your children to stay on the sidewalk at all times.

Darting out into the street is one of the most common causes of pedestrian death among children. The Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition offers the following important tips:

• Decorate costumes, bags and sacks with retro-reflective tape and stickers.
• Use costumes that are light or bright enough to make children more visible at night.

• Tell children to walk, not run, while trick-or-treating.
• Remind children to stop at all street corners before crossing.
• Tell them to cross streets only at intersections and crosswalks.
• Tell them to look left, right and left again before crossing the street and to continue looking both ways as they cross.
• Tell them never to dart out into a street or cross between parked cars.
• Never let children under age 10 go trick-or-treating or cross the street without the supervision of an adult or older sibling.

• Slow down in residential neighborhoods.
• Obey all traffic signs and signals.
• Watch for children walking in the street or on medians and curbs.
• Enter and exit driveways and alleyways slowly and carefully.
• Teach children to exit and enter the car on the curb side, away from traffic.

Fires and burns are the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children. On Halloween, the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition recommends the following:

• Look for "flame resistant" labels on costumes, masks, beards, and wigs.
• Use fire resistant material when making costumes.
• Avoid costumes made of flimsy material and outfits with big, baggy sleeves or billowing skirts. These are more likely to come in contact with an exposed flame, such as a candle, than tighter fitting costumes.
• Keep candles, pumpkins with candles, matches and lighters out of children's reach.

The Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition, Inc. is a nonprofit group of 60 statewide organizations that have joined to protect Kansas children from unintentional injury --the leading killer of Kansas kids. Local Coalitions and chapters are located in Wichita, Johnson County, Lawrence, Salina, Barber County, Topeka, Ford County, Manhattan, Hutchinson, Pottawatomie County, and Clay County. Kansas SAFE KIDS is a part of the national SAFE KIDS Campaign.