KDHE Home - News 2000 - News Release

Kansas
Department of Health & Environment
Bill Graves, Governor
Clyde D. Graeber, Secretary

October 23, 2000

Contact: Jan Stegelman, 785-296-1223

When you Trick-or-Treat: Remember Important Safety Tips Before Taking to the Street!

Ghosts and goblins aren't the only phantoms children face when trick-or-treating on Halloween. The potential for unintentional injury rises on Halloween with increases in pedestrian injuries, burns and falls among children. In fact, the chances of a child being hit by a car and killed increase fourfold on Halloween. While kids and parents prepare their costumes and sweet feasts, they need to recall the many safety tips that could save them from danger during the frantic trick-or-treating festivities.

"Halloween is a scary night for kids and parents - in more than the traditional sense. It can be one of the most dangerous nights of the year due to a variety of factors," said Jan Stegelman of the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition. "Most parents worry about candy tampering. They're not aware that pedestrian injuries, burns and falls account for the majority of injuries primarily because kids with unwieldy costumes are walking in the dark and along streets or on porches around jack-o-lanterns and candles."

Many of the risks kids face can be avoided if parents discuss with their kids the important safety precautions that the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition recommends below:

· Accompany children under age 12 on their trick-or-treat rounds.

· Attach the name, address and phone number (including area code) of children under age 12 to their clothes in case they get separated from adults.

· 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 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 safely sealed. Be careful with fruit. Inspect the surface closely for punctures or holes and cut it open before allowing a child to eat it.

Pedestrian Injuries

Parents often overestimate their children's pedestrian skills and many times children under 10 have not yet developed the cognitive skills to cross the street. 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:

Visibility

· 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.

Traffic

· Teach 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.

· Teach them to look left, right and left again before crossing the street and to continue looking both ways as they cross.

· Teach them never to dart out into a street or cross between parked cars.

· Never let children under age 12 go trick-or-treating or cross the street without the supervision of an adult.

Motorists

· 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.

Falls

On Halloween night, cumbersome costumes and blinding masks can make walking safely through dark neighborhoods difficult. 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.

Burns

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 National SAFE KIDS Campaign is pleased to partner with Nestle Chocolate & Confections to disseminate a safety checklist with important pedestrian safety messages to children this fall. In addition to this checklist, which will be distributed by the Campaign's more than 285 State and Local SAFE KIDS Coalitions, millions of Nestle candy bags (Baby Ruth, Butterfinger and Nestle Crunch) will have the National SAFE KIDS Campaign logo as well as pedestrian safety tips for children. For a free Halloween safety checklist parents can contact the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition at 109 SW 9^th Street, Suite 602, Topeka, KS 66612 (785) 296-1223.

The Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition, Inc. is a nonprofit group of 67 statewide organizations and businesses that have joined to protect Kansas children from unintentional injury -- the leading killer of Kansas kids. Local coalitions and chapters are located in Barber, Clay, Ford, Johnson, Marion, Osage, Pottawatomie, and Shawnee Counties, as well as Hutchinson, Lawrence, Leavenworth, Manhattan, Norton, Salina, and Wichita. Kansas SAFE KIDS is part of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.

-30-