As people across the country prepare for haunted houses, trick or treating and fun with friends, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – White Rock offers the following tips to keep all of your little witches and wizards safe during the festivities:

Choose a safe costume

The number-one consideration in a choosing a costume is to make sure he or she can see. If it obstructs your child’s vision, keep looking. Face paint and head ornamentation is a great substitute for a full mask and is much more comfortable and safe. Length is also an important factor. Make sure it won’t interfere with walking or cause tripping on stairs. Finally, being fire resistant is an added bonus when your child may be trailing around candle-lit pumpkins on steps.

Visibility

Don’t forget to pick up glow sticks that fasten around wrists, ankles, necks and even belt loops. They don’t detract from the costume, and make your little one more visible. Even if you’re in the city, a flashlight is crucial to prevent trips on sidewalks and curbs, as well as to alert passing vehicles.

Supervise

Tonight is not the best night to turn your kids loose in the neighborhood to run with friends. Find another adult or older sibling to hand out candy at your house and stick with your young trick-or-treaters. Don’t forget your own flashlight and a back-up bag in case their bag tears.

Fun, Safe Events

If you’re looking for an even safer way to spend Halloween, consider taking your child to a mall, community event, church party or even host your own special Halloween party. These controlled environments may be a safer alternative and still loads of fun.

Pumpkin Carving

When it’s time to carve the pumpkin, safe and child-friendly tools are available at most stores. Supervision is still required, however, as children can always find ways to get hurt. If possible, have them help you design the image, and then you do the cutting. They can do the fun part of cleaning out the pumpkins and saving the seeds to dry for healthy snacking later on. Using an inexpensive, battery-operated tea light instead of a candle eliminates the fire hazard.

Preventative Habits

Watch what candy is given to your child at which house, so if something is questionable later on, you will remember if it came from a friendly neighbor that you know well. Toss anything that is unwrapped or homemade. Talk to your child beforehand so he or she knows to stay on sidewalks, wait for you to cross at corners, and walk up to houses that have porch lights on. In the excitement of the moment, kids will often dash unexpectedly or step off onto rough terrain.

For Life’s Unexpected Emergencies

When an unplanned health event occurs, you can trust our full-time, board–certified emergency medicine physicians on the medical staff and specially trained nurses and technicians to help. Our average patient wait for treatment by a physician is less than 15 minutes. And that should make you feel better. The ER on Lovers Lane, a department of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – White Rock is more than a name. It’s a promise.

To learn more about The ER on Lovers Lane, visit us online at BaylorScottandWhite.com/ERLoversLane.

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Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - White Rock

9400 Poppy Drive
Dallas, TX 75218

1-866-987-2603

www.BaylorScottandWhite.com/WhiteRock