As people across the country prepare for haunted houses, trick or treating and fun with friends, Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake offers the following tips to keep all of your little witches and wizards safe during their festivities:
Choose a safe costume
The number one consideration in a choosing a costume is to make sure he 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 lighted 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 it is important to 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 trick-or-treaters. Don’t forget your own flashlight and a back-up bag for when theirs 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 care the pumpkin, safe and child-friendly tools are available at most stores. Supervision is still required, however, as children still may 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 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.
To ensure a safe and memorable Halloween for your lil’ monster, try these few simple, preventative measures. To learn more about how to have a hazard-free Halloween, visit DoctorsHospitalDallas.com/SafeHalloween.
Online Check-in: The Smarter Way to the ER
At Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake, we understand that waiting in the ER is no fun. That’s why we’re offering an online check-in service at DoctorsHospitalDallas.com/SkiptheERWaitingRoom to reserve your time online and comfortably wait at home. Users enjoy the convenience of choosing where they wait and a projected time to see a health care professional in the ER. Patients can hold their place online by completing an online form and arriving at the hospital at the selected time. Simply go to DoctorsHospitalDallas.com/SkiptheERWaitingRoom; it's quick, easy and you'll be seen by a health care professional within 15 minutes of your scheduled time*.
The hospital’s InQuickER system screens patients whose symptoms may signal a potentially serious condition to make sure they don’t wait to go to the hospital. To learn more about these quality emergency services serving the East Dallas area, visit DoctorsHospitalDallas.com/ER.
* Some restrictions apply.
Photo credit: Zoonar/Thinkstock
Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake
9400 Poppy Drive
Dallas, TX 75218
214-324-6100
www.doctorshospitaldallas.com