4 Scary Preventable Injuries to Avoid This Halloween Season

A study found that Halloween is the fourth largest holiday for emergency room visits.
Photo by: stevepb

Once summer is over, the Halloween season will then be fast approaching, and like most parents, you're concerned about your children's safety. If you are not already aware, you should know that this part of the year has one of the highest numbers of injuries.

A study found that Halloween is the fourth largest holiday for emergency room visits. Most of these emergency visits are parents with their children. Another research study points out that children are twice as likely to be hit by a car on Halloween than any other day during the year.

These facts and figures are not presented to frighten you but to point out how important it is to take all the steps that you can to ensure that your child stays safe and sound on Halloween.

With that in mind, please familiarize yourself with the most common yet preventable injuries during this Halloween season.

Vehicle-pedestrian Collisions

Car accidents are the most common cause of emergency visits all year round, but they are even more prevalent on Halloween night. These injuries can be horrifying for children, with serious and lasting impact. Thankfully, you can do a lot to prevent them.

Children should never go trick-or-treating alone; adults should accompany them at all times. Furthermore, parents should use flashlights and reflective tape on their costumes to make them more visible to drivers.

Burns

Burns during Halloween usually come from flammable costumes in combination with candles in Jack O' Lanterns. Focus on making or purchasing costumes and all other accessories from flame-resistant materials and keep candles away from children.

Eye Injuries

As children are children and the props they use on Halloween can often be sharp, it's no wonder that eye injuries happen a lot. Only use accessories that are not sharp or made out of foam or soft plastic. Educate your children about the danger these sharper accessories pose.

Finger and Hand Injuries

By far the most common injuries on Halloween are hand, finger, and injuries to other extremities. They are also easily preventable. Children usually cut themselves when carving pumpkins or they hurt themselves from falling while outside.

It's best to supervise them while they prepare for Halloween and go with them in the evening, to be completely safe.

All in all, as you can see, even though these scary injuries are widespread, they are also very preventable.