Scares make Halloween a favorite for people of all ages. Costumes, trick-or-treating, parties, and Athen’s Fright Fest, bring thrills and fun for the whole family. However, Halloween also comes with the potential for hazards, with thousands of people seeking emergency medical care for Halloween-related injuries. Unfortunately, many Halloween-related injuries are preventable.
In this blog, we’ll cover practical Halloween safety tips and ways to avoid common Halloween injuries. They will help keep your family safe while enjoying all the fun Halloween has to offer.
If an unexpected injury does occur, visit your local AFC Urgent Care in Athens, TN. Our clinic is open for walk-ins on Halloween (and 7 days a week) with extended hours.
Safety Tips for Choosing Costume
Most of us choose our costume because it’s funny, trendy, cool, or we simply like. Very rarely do we consider how safe the costume is and how easy it is to move in.
The National Safety Council, an organization focused on eliminating the leading causes of preventable injury, recommends the following tips for ensuring your costumes are safe:
- Choose a costume and shoes that fit properly, without a long train or excessive fabric on the sleeves. The extra fabric length is a fire hazard, as most costumes, wigs, and accessories are not fire-resistant and can easily catch fire when kids are around candles and other fire-risks. If possible, purchase costumes that are fire-resistant.
- Many Halloween costumes consist of dark colors. If children or teens are trick-or-treating in the dark, be sure to fasten reflective tape to their costumes and bags. You could also consider giving them glow sticks to carry or have them use glow-in-the-dark Halloween buckets for candy. This ensures that they are visible when walking on the road.
- Avoid masks as much as possible. Masks obscure vision, which can lead to slips, trips, and falls. Instead of masks, consider nontoxic Halloween makeup. However, be sure to always test makeup in a small area first to see if any irritation develops. Also, remove all makeup before bed to further prevent skin and eye irritation from makeup.
Did you know that AFC Urgent Care Athens can evaluate and treat many dermatology issues? So, if an irritation or skin rash develops from Halloween makeup, our medicate providers can diagnose, provide proper treatment, or refer you to a dermatologist as needed.
Safety Tips for Trick-or-Treating
Ensuring you are visible to cars when trick-or-treating is one of the most important things you can do to keep yourself and your family safe on Halloween. Unfortunately, pedestrian fatality risk is 43% higher on Halloween night compared to other comparable evenings.
As mentioned already, ensure your costumes have a reflective light on them. Also consider carrying a flashlight, glow sticks, or another light source to ensure drivers see every person in your group. Follow the buddy system, and always have 1 or more people with you, as groups are easier for cars to spot.
Ensure you follow all normal rules of the road for pedestrians. Walk on the sidewalks whenever possible, and, if not, walk facing oncoming traffic, so it is easier for cars to spot you. Cross the road only at crosswalks, obey signals and signs, and be sure a car is fully stopped and aware before crossing. Also, remind your kids to pay attention to where they are walking and avoid texting or being distracted by their phone.
Safety Tips for Candies and Treats
It should be no surprise that Halloween ranks #1 in total volume for candy sales, with Americans buying nearly 600 million pounds of candy totaling roughly $4.6 billion. Before you and your family dive into the sweets, read through these safety tips from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
- Tell children not to accept or eat anything that isn’t commercially and properly wrapped.
- Wait to eat candy until you are home. When you are trick-or-treating, lighting can be spotty and you are busy focusing on many things. Waiting to eat candy until you are home allows you to inspect the wrapping and contents in proper lighting.
- When you inspect the candy (even commercially wrapped candy), look for any signs of tampering, such as an unusual appearance or discoloration, tiny pinholes, or tears in wrappers. Throw away anything that looks suspicious.
- Consider having some sweet treats or snacks at home before children head out to trick-or-treat. It will keep the Halloween fun and make children less hungry and likely to taste candy when out.
Safety Tips for Your Home
Halloween decorations were the cause of 835 home structure fires each year from 2020-2024. Nearly half (47%) of those fires occurred because Halloween decorations were too close to a heat source, such as a candle or hot equipment.
So, when you are planning your Halloween decorations, be sure to keep them away from any potential heat sources. You could also consider using LED candles in place of real candles.
Along with the above fire-safety tips, consider the following tips to keep both your home and trick-or-treaters safe:
- Park cars on driveways; not on roads. This keeps the roads clear for other cars and trick-or-treaters.
- Keep all exits of your house clear of decorations and make sure all smoke alarms in the home are working.
- Ensure your front yard is well-lit, so trick-or-treaters can easily walk to your door.
- Take time to blow or rake leaves off your front path. Slippery, wet leaves are a tripping hazard on any day of the year, but especially hazardous when Halloween costumes are involved.
- Keep your pets inside or away from trick-or-treaters. Even the calmest dog can be scared of Halloween costumes.
Minor burns from Halloween decorations or candles may not require a trip to the Emergency Room. AFC Urgent Care Athens provides evaluation and treatment for minor burns, helping ease discomfort and support proper healing on Halloween.
Halloween Injury Treatment at AFC Athens
Unfortunately, we can do everything we can to prevent Halloween-related injuries and they can still happen. If your family’s Halloween fun leads to an unexpected injury, AFC Urgent Care Athens, TN provides convenient, same-day walk-in care for a variety of injuries, skin rashes, minor burns and other Halloween-related injuries.
Our clinic is open on Halloween with extended evening hours. Whether an injury happens trick-or-treating or while enjoying another fall activity at Mayfield Farm Park, you can walk in or pre-register for an appointment for prompt, quality, and compassionate care at AFC Urgent Care Athens.