With Halloween right around the corner, and H1N1 flu widespread across the country, the American Red Cross offers child safety tips to help parents and children celebrate safely this year.

“We don’t want anyone to go out trick-or-treating and come home sick,” said Sharon Stanley, Chief Nurse of the American Red Cross. “You can follow these special tips to try to have a flu-free Halloween:”

* If your child is sick, keep them at home. This will be disappointing to your young one, but your neighbors and community are counting on you to hold the line on transmission of this virus.
* Remind kids to keep their hands away from their eyes, nose and mouth to keep germs away. Carry that hand sanitizer with you or have it near your candy dispensing area.
* If you are giving out candy, hand it out or scoop it. Instead of a bowl of candy, consider handing out small, individually wrapped bags of treats.
* Throw away any unwrapped candy and inspect the rest for choking hazards and tampering.

To help prevent other dangers, take the following steps for a safer Halloween:

* Use flame-resistant costumes.
* Plan your route and make sure adults know where children are going. A parent or responsible adult should accompany young children as they make their way around the neighborhood.
* Make sure the trick-or-treaters have a flashlight. Add reflective tape to costumes and trick-or-treat bags. Have everyone wear light-colored clothing to be seen.
* Visit only the homes that have a porch light on. Accept treats at the door — never go inside.
* Instead of masks which can cover your eyes and make it hard to see, use face makeup.
* Walk only on the sidewalks, not in the street. If no sidewalk is available, walk at the edge of the roadway, facing traffic. Look both ways before crossing the street, and cross only at the corner. Don’t cut across yards or use alleys. Don’t cross between parked cars.

Source Red Cross

The haunted happenings of Halloween children activities are upon us and soon we’ll be carving pumpkins, dressing in costumes and telling spooky stories.

But if your child has a food allergy, what’s at the bottom of his or her trick-or-treat bag may be more frightening than any ghost or goblin.

According to a new national survey of 678 moms of children with food allergies - whether to peanuts, tree nuts, milk or eggs, eight out of ten say Halloween causes a great deal of anxiety because they fear their little ones might eat candy containing peanuts or another allergen.(1) Their anxiety is heightened by the fact that food allergies can cause a potentially life-threatening severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is caused when an allergic reaction becomes so severe that a person may stop breathing. Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict when a child with food allergies might experience an anaphylactic reaction.

According to the survey, 40 percent of moms said that this time of year makes their children feel alienated because the child can’t fully engage or participate in Halloween activities.(1) The fear is so great that nearly half of these moms said they are thinking about having their child skip trick-or-treating altogether.

In spite of these concerns, less than half of moms surveyed are adequately prepared to handle a life-threatening allergic reaction - 43 percent of moms surveyed said they carry or have immediate access to an epinephrine auto-injector, such as EpiPen® (epinephrine) and EpiPen® Jr Auto-Injectors 0.3/0.15 mg.(1) EpiPen® Auto-Injector is a self-administered medicine that is used in the emergency treatment of a severe allergic reaction, including an anaphylactic reaction.

For those children who do go trick-or-treating, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) offers these helpful tips:

Never Go Alone: Always accompany younger children trick-or-treating and have older children go out with friends.

Inform Others: Make sure all the adults and friends in your group know about your child’s food allergies and what to do in an emergency.

Pack Medication: While out for Halloween, make sure you or your child is carrying an epinephrine auto-injector. Make sure your child’s friends or other adults know how to administer this medication.

Provide Safe Snacks: Provide your close neighbors and even your child’s teacher at school with safe treats or even non-food items like stickers that can be given to your child.

Check the Goodies: Carefully read labels or check the candy company’s Web site to make sure the product doesn’t contain something that can cause an allergic reaction. It’s important to remember that the ingredients of ‘fun size’ candy bars may differ from the regular-size bars.

When in Doubt, Throw It Out: If you can’t find information on a treat’s ingredients or are simply not sure if it’s safe, then throw the candy away or stick it in a treat jar that is out of the reach of the child.

Avoid Snacking: Eating dinner before trick-or-treating might curb your child’s urge to sneak goodies from the bag.

SOURCE Dey Pharma L.P.

For many families across the country, Halloween is the official launch of the holiday and decorating season. In fact, a recent study predicts Halloween spending may reach $5.77 billion on costumes, decorations and candy. Whether adorning their homes with jack-o-lanterns, decorative lights or creepy cobwebs, many families don’t realize their Halloween traditions might be dangerous for child safety if not done right.

On Halloween night there is a significant increase in home fires, burn-related injuries and falls. Most injuries involve flammable costumes and decorations. Home fires are 70 percent more likely to happen on Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day than on any other day of the year according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

“October through January experiences the greatest number of structure fires caused by an open flame,” says John Drengenberg, director of Consumer Safety at Underwriters Laboratories. “As parents, we need to make sure we are taking the appropriate safety measures when it comes to decorating our homes and outfitting our children in costumes.”

To help parents recognize potential safety hazards associated with many Halloween activities, Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the leading independent product safety organization, is offering the following tips as a guide to ensure loved ones enjoy a safe Halloween season.

Source: Underwriters Laboratories

Halloween is one of the most avidly awaited holidays for children activities, but it also harbors the greatest potential for dangers, including accidents and contact with strangers.

While any night on which children parade darkly-lit streets in a race for candy is a fraught with hazards, statistically speaking, the biggest threats to kids on Halloween are traffic accidents, cuts while carving pumpkins, and fires caused by candle-lit jack-o’-lanterns.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Halloween is the most dangerous evening for children to be on the streets. In fact, The CDC states that “the number of childhood pedestrian deaths increased fourfold among children on Halloween evenings when compared with all other evenings.” Halloween is an evening of parties, too, and more drunk drivers are on the road at precisely the time children are too.

Another increasingly relevant worry for parents is that Halloween is primetime for sexual predators. “Halloween is a day when child safety is on everyone’s mind,” Trip Wakefield, CEO of ThinAir Wireless said. “Parents should accompany small children and explain to older ones how to avoid problems when trick-or-treating.”

Telematics innovator ThinAir Wireless makes the POM Offender Locator, which quickly and accurately pinpoints sexual offenders in any neighborhood. The Offender Locator is a downloadable app available for iPhones and is currently the 23rd most popular iPhone application in the “top paid app” category; it is fourth in “utilities”. Two versions, one of which is free, are available for download in the iTunes Store (listed under “Utilities”).

The statistical probability that children will have contact with a sexual predator is now 1 in 3.

“With Halloween just a month away, the time to begin talking about safety with your child is now,” Wakefield said. “POM Offender Locator, in its free (2.5) or paid (2.2) versions, should be considered an integral part of any family security strategy.”

Trick-or-Treaters
Keep to neighborhoods you know well.
Visit only houses that are lit. Stick to the sidewalk - don’t run - and pay attention to traffic signals.
Don’t cut across driveways and yards, especially in the dark.
Use makeup instead of wearing a mask.
Wear shoes that provide good support, fit, and traction.
Don’t wear costumes that dangle or drag on the ground.
Carry only fake, flexible rubber swords, knives, etc.
Parents
Be sure that an adult - if not you - is with children under the age of 10 at all times.
Know where your children are going.
A cell phone is a recommended part of the wardrobe for children and adults.
Tell your children where they can reach you if you are going out that night.
Make sure that children’s costumes are flame-retardant and use reflective tape.
Instruct children that all candy they collect must be inspected by you at home before it can be eaten.
Toss out anything that looks like it may have been tampered with.

Source: Thin Air Wireless