Beyond Basics: Trick or Treat Tips from our EMS Safety Expert
Break out the costumes and face paint because it’s almost that time of year again, Halloween. While Halloween may be the superbowl Sunday for candy hungry little monsters and superhero’s, it can be a time of worry and anxiety for parents. Aside from having to find the right costume and gear for the kids, the preparation for the activities is of the utmost importance. The following is just a small list of things to consider before Halloween to help everyone have fun and ease some worry.
Plan to go with your child or children. This may seem like a ”no brainer“ but it would surprise you how many people just send children out with a group.
If you are going to go in a group, try to make it a small but manageable group. Groups with large amounts of children can get confusing and problematic, so try to keep the group ratio at 3 to 4 children per adult if possible.
Having the children carry AND wear something lit such as a flashlight, glow bracelet or necklace, or flashing attire for visibility. Light-up shoes are also practical and ever-so-noticeable on a dark Halloween night. Remember, you want them to be seen by cars driving by and you. This goes for parents as well. Parents should be the guides to both kids and cars passing by and that is best accomplished by being easily seen.
Adults should try and plan a route in advance and check it during the daylight for such obstacles as broken sidewalks (or no sidewalks), construction or other obstacles that could trip up trick or treaters. Trick or treating in familiar neighborhoods or areas will make everyone more comfortable and in the event something does happen, it is always best to be in familiar surroundings.
Try to have the children wear well fitting, comfortable shoes, preferably sneakers. While adorable in the store as a costume accessory, kids planning to go trick or treat should wear sturdy shoes and not the princess high-heel, too-large boots, or other types of shoes often shown with costumes. Save those types of shoes for costume parties and not when a child is going to trick or treat. Their feet–and most likely you who may end up carrying either the shoes or the child and you – will both be thankful. Also avoiding costumes that drag on the ground can help as well. While cute initially, costumes that drag can trip up little feet, get caught on bushes, and create a tussle that sometimes results in the child wanting to remove the costume. Remember, kids who trick or treat want to be costumed AND comfortable.
The parent should always go with the child to the door to see what is being handed out (and who is doing the handing out). If what is being handed out looks old, suspicious, or just plain wrong, then move on to the next house or Immediately remove it from your child’s stash and get rid of it or keep it for reporting if necessary. But the most important part is that the child will not have it.
Allergies are on this list too. If your child has food allergies, then it is critical that you inspect everything they have received and do your best to weed out possible problems before your child ingests anything. Bringing along a child EPI-PEN can really do wonders here to give you a little more piece of mind.
Now the staples of Halloween safety will always apply to this list.
- Only approach well lit houses,
- Inspect ALL candy and items in your child’s bounty BEFORE they have a chance to eat it, separate it with friends or hide it somewhere.
- Try and go at dusk before it becomes too dark and much harder to see children and
- Try to walk and not run and
- Always have a cell phone handy in case of emergency.
The list of tips for safety on Halloween can go on forever and when it comes to your children, you can never be too safe, but by using some pre planning and basic safety techniques, you and your monsters, superhero’s and princesses will have a great and safe Halloween.
In an Emergency, Please Wait – EMS Will Be There!
It is a beautiful Friday afternoon and my unit is dispatched on a 53 year old female having a seizure. Nothing seems out of the ordinary until we find out that the patient is a passenger in a car that is being driven by her daughter who is speeding while on the phone with 911 and ignoring the advice of the dispatcher and the police car next to her telling her to pull over or go to the closest hospital. The story ends with the daughter driving a very long way home, passing 2 hospitals, all while having a car full of hysterical family who meet us at their home and let us examine the patient only after they have carried her into the house against our advice yet again. Thankfully in the end, everyone was ok but this type of scene is not an uncommon one.
It is a normal reaction to panic when an emergency happens, but the decision to call 911 or to drive the person to the hospital yourself should be weighed very carefully. There are situations where you can calmly put a person in your car and calmly drive them to the hospital and then there are the situations like the one I described above or the one you see in movies all the time with the pregnant wife screaming and panic has taken over and all regard for safety has gone out the window and something terrible may happen. To avoid situations like these we ask you to wait. We ask you to wait for the emergency responders who will show up quickly and manage all the panic and give the best possible care and make sure everyone gets to the hospital safely. The back of a rescue truck or ambulance is a much better place to be should something change for the worse that would cause even more panic and reckless driving had you chosen not to wait.
As always I advocate when in doubt call 911. It is why we are there and it is much easier for us to find an address than it is for us to find a moving car. Please do not put the lives of you and your loved ones in jeopardy, please call and wait, we will be there!
I hope you all have a happy and safe 2024.
What I Remember and Why It Matters: A 1978 Child EMS Transport
St. Petersburg, FL., the year was probably 1978 or 79. My partner and I had responded to a drowning in a large apartment complex at the north end of town. When we arrived we found a bunch of people doing or trying to do CPR. While we were getting into position to take over care a news crew arrived and began to film the action- the cameraman positioned right behind me.
The child was blue and just had that look and feel. The outcome was not going to change and it was not right that it was being filmed- solely for the benefit of the TV station. Somehow when I stood up I bumped into the cameraman and into the pool he went.
Fencing could have, would have prevented the death of this child. Parental oversight could have, would have prevented the death of this child. These were not the only mistakes to be made. We put the child on the stretcher and began the very long trip to the hospital.
We did not secure the child in any special way to the stretcher. We never had any means to do so and nothing bad ever happened. Each time we transported a child back then, we did so either using the stretcher or more commonly held the baby in our arms- as though we could hold onto a 30 pound baby in a high speed collision. But we did it time and again and nothing bad ever happened.
That’s not to say that there could not have been a catastrophic outcome from the transport – it just never happened – to me.
Back then we were not taught any better and frankly did not know better. Back then the world was a lot larger. We did not know what happened across the country or the world like we do today- only ‘major news’ received that level of exposure. And the fact that we did not believe anything bad would happen kept us from seeking change or improvement. As a society we have enacted universal laws that govern how we transport children in ordinary vehicles. We made these changes because bad things do happen. Emergency vehicles are the same as other cars- only riskier- they run red lights and go fast. We need to adopt the same laws as those that apply to all vehicles
How children are transported today is about the same as it was back then and largely for the same reason- we take a risk and nothing bad happens.
There are those who advocate for safer transport of children and infants and some states have enacted legislation to require safe transport equipment for emergency vehicles. Most people just assume that EMS, 911 responders, know what to do and do the right thing.
So what is the moral to this story? We often get angry when bad things happen and lash out in the wrong direction. Hindsight is most often crystal clear but too often we fail to use this vision to change the future.
* Learn CPR ** Insist that all states require EMS vehicles to carry and use approved child and infant transport equipment ** Ask questions and get involved *
* No Excuses*
Remembering 911: Creating a New Future For Our Children
This past weekend was the twentieth anniversary of the worst attack against America and our way of life and is a day a national remembrance. The 911 attacks attacked differences. Differences of religion, differences in appearance. The attacks said we are worthy to live, you are not. The attacks said we are better.
Taking a moment to remember, reminds us to embrace our differences, to embrace other religions, different governments and different appearances. Taking a moment to remember says we all deserve to live. Doing so builds a better life and better future for our children, for all children, for many generations to come. Only we can teach hate and only we can erase hate in the future for our children with love.
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Editor’s Note: This post first ran on 9-11, 12 years ago. It is the author’s hope – and ours – that by remembering and telling our children, we create a better world for them. They deserve it. We all do!!
With heavy hearts…and with love…from Pediatric Safety.
Wishing You a Safe, Happy and Healthy 2021!
GOODBYE 2020!!!
The end could not come fast enough!
For many it’s been heartbreaking, lonely …at times terrifying
A year full of overwhelming grief at loss of loved ones and livelihoods …of every aspect of life as we knew it
But you were stronger than you ever thought possible …and you have survived
We know it is not over…there are still difficult days ahead…but we can see a light…even if it is just the glimmer from a candle burning in the darkness
I hope we as a people continue to value the heroes of 2020 – long after this nightmare is over
Thank you healthcare workers, emergency responders, police men and women and teachers! Thank you to every essential worker who kept a food service open, a building clean and safe, a transportation service operational. Thank you to every person who put their lives on the line so that the rest of us could live to see tomorrow.
It is to you we dedicate 2021!
And on a personal note from all of us at Pediatric Safety:
Our thanks to all of you who stayed with us
We’re honored you’ve let us
be a part of your life.
Have a Safe, Happy and Healthy 2021!
Stefanie, Clara, Audra and Jim….
These 5 Steps Help Teach Your Children How to Call 911
Calling 911 sounds simple, but put yourself in the place of a child is being told to do this under an extremely stressful situation or the child of an unconscious parent that does not know what to do or say? Not so simple now is it? Teaching your child how and when to call 911 is an extremely important lesson for them and will make it more comfortable for them should the need arise.
- Teaching your child how to call 911 should start with a simple understanding of the phone and the three buttons.
- If you are referring to 911 around your children as nine eleven, please understand how this can confuse a smaller child that may look for an eleven button, so make clear to the child there is no eleven button, it is three pushes of the buttons, 9-‐1-‐1.
- Next should come the lesson of where you live,the address and apartment number. It is surprising when doing fire demonstrations how many children do not know their address or phone number. These are things that will help the 911 operator thus speeding up the arrival of the responding units. Some areas of the country have expanded 911 which allows the operator to trace the call in case a disconnection happens. But knowing it by memory is the best answer.
- Children often feel they will be in trouble if they use the house phone or call 911. Teach your child to be honest with the 911 person and to calmly and clearly answer the questions they are being asked. For example, what is your address? Is the person awake? Is the person breathing?
- Defining what an emergency is and when to call 911 is the next step. Having your child understand that major things like fires, seriously injured people and intruders in your home are real emergencies and things like a missing toy or a flat bike tire are not.
A test run should be in order when the child is ready. You can try an old phone or simply unplug your phone and have the child dial and answer the questions and see how well they do. Obviously the older the child the easier it will be and this may take more time with younger children but we have all seen the stories on the news of very your children calling 911 and saving a life. I hope and pray your child will never have to call 911 but always teach them that if there is ever any doubt that they should call. Better to be safe than sorry.
Be safe.
Photo credit: Dan Hatton; CC license
