Safety first when Trick-Or-Treating!

On Tuesday, children will be crawling the streets in search of candy. Halloween is a time for costumes, candy and fun, but CCH wants to remind you that safety should be a priority. Before you or your children head out trick-or-treating, consider these tips:

1. Drivers, please reduce your speed in neighborhoods and keep an extra close eye out for children in the streets. Keep in mind that many kids are excited about candy and they may dart out into the street; or they may be wearing a mask or something that limits their eye sight, and may not see that they are in harm’s way.
2. Parents, make sure your children’s candy isn’t tainted. Tell your children not to eat any candy until it has been inspected at home. And, tell your children not to accept anything that isn’t commercially wrapped. When your child does arrive home with their loot, inspect the candy for signs of tampering—unusual appearance, tiny holes, tears in wrappers—and throw away anything that is suspicious or may cause a choking hazard for your child.
3. Trick-Or-Treaters, consider going out in a group and be sure to follow all traffic rules. Walk on the sidewalks, not in the street. Make sure everyone stops before crossing the street, be sure to look both ways for traffic, and don’t cut across yards or use alleys or cross between parked cars (cross at the street corner). Consider wearing or carrying reflective items or flashlights while outside. And, only visit homes that have a porch light on and only accept treats at the door—never go inside.

If you want to go trick-or-treating, but don’t want to be on the streets, check out some of the following:

• The Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center Candy Pass, starting at 4:30 pm, 1000 S. Douglas Highway
• Gillette Drive-Thru Trick or Treat, 4-6 pm, HUB International, 601 4-J Court, Unit A
• GOC Halloween, 7 am-6 pm, Gillette Optometric Clinic, 609 4-J Court
• Treat Street, CAM-PLEX Wyoming Center, Frontier Hall, 5-8 pm, 1635 Reata Drive – please bring a canned food donation for the Council of Community Services
• Trick-or-Treat Gillette Main Street, noon-5 pm, Downtown Gillette, Wyoming (participating merchants only)
• Trunk or Treat, 4:30-6:30 pm, High Plains Community Church, 3101 W. Lakeway Road

And, if you see some Gillette Wild Youth Hockey players in their jersey trick-or-treating, be sure to give them a no-perishable food item for the Council of Community Services.

Note: More Halloween safety tips can be found on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration web page, Halloween Safety: Costumes, Candy and Colored Contact Lenses.

Hollie Stewart, MD practices at Campbell County Medical Group Pediatrics in the Main Clinic on the south side of Campbell County Memorial Hospital. Call 307.688.3636 for an appointment. Learn more at www.cchwyo.org/peds.