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Halloween is right around the corner, so before you shuttle the kids off to a Trunk or Treat this weekend or take them around the neighborhood on Halloween night, you’ll want to make sure you know the best ways to keep your children and your family safe. Every year our team responds to different emergencies on Halloween night. Whether it’s a car accident involving a drunk driver, a child that was hit while crossing the street or an allergic reaction to candy, our team is always ready to help in the event of an emergency.

Of course, we’d rather you and your family take a few steps to stay safe during the Halloween holiday so that you don’t have to deal with the stress and the fallout of a medical emergency. To help with this, we’ve come up with some Halloween safety tips for you and your family, as well as some helpful information if you plan on Trick or Treating throughout the Fox Valley this weekend.

Staying Safe On Halloween

Halloween is a fun and enjoyable holiday the vast majority of the time, but the holiday also creates a recipe for danger. You’ll have kids crossing the street, sometimes unexpectedly and in the dark, and they’ll be receiving candy from people who may not be aware of the allergic or choking hazards the candy provides to that child. With that in mind, here are some tips for having a safe and emergency-free Halloween.

1. Make Your Child Easy To Be Seen – Daylight is becoming scarce, and many local Trick or Treating hours will take place during dusk or at night. Consider finding ways to make your child’s costume a little more visible. High-visibility tape on the back of any costume can make it much easier for your child to be seen, as can light up shoes or flashlights. Be creative in making it easier for your kid to be seen.

2. Safe Steps – If you’re Trick or Treating, you and your child will be doing more walking than normal, and you’ll want to make sure your feet are prepared for the task. It doesn’t matter if your child is going as a princess, a ballet dancer, a football player or construction worker, put them in a tennis shoe or similar styled shoe that can handle a bunch of steps. High heels, cleats or work boots are going to leave your child’s feet in pain if they are forced to walk a long distance in them. Also, be sure to stay on the sidewalks and talk to your kids about cutting through lawns. Walking across uneven lawns in the dark can lead to falls and foot fractures, so stick to the paved paths.

3. Check Their Candy – We’re not saying that people are putting razor blades in apples or fentanyl in Pixy Stix, but you should take a closer look at your child’s candy at the end of the night. Throw away anything that is unsealed or that could pose a choking hazard for your young child. If your child has had a reaction to peanuts or peanut-products in the past, remove these candies from their stash.

4. Safe Road Crossing – Talk to your kids about safe ways to cross the street. Only cross at intersections and make sure they look both ways before crossing the street. It can be tempting to cut back and forth across the street based on which houses are participating, but it’s just not worth it when there’s traffic.

5. Plan A Sober Ride – If you’ll be attending an adult Halloween party this weekend, make sure that you plan a safe ride home if you’ll be drinking. Police will be out with extra patrols looking for drunk and unsafe drivers, so don’t assume that you’ll be in the clear because you’re only going a mile or two. It’s also not just your life at stake. Kids and families may be out and about, so if you’re going to be drinking, arrange a sober ride home.

6. Don’t Be A Party To Teen Drinking – Finally, don’t let your teen and their friends drink alcohol at your house if you’re hosting a Halloween party. Even if you don’t directly furnish them with the alcohol, if drinking occurs at your house and you aren’t providing meaningful oversight of their activities, you can be held criminally and financially responsible for their actions. If they end up passing out and needing medical assistance or causing an automobile accident, you can end up in jail. Don’t be a party to underage drinking over the Halloween weekend.

Fox Valley Trick Or Treating Hours

If you and your children will be Trick or Treating this weekend or on Halloween, it will be helpful to know when different areas are celebrating the holiday. Below, you’ll find the Trick or Treating times for cities throughout the Fox Valley:

Appleton – 4 to 8 p.m.

Buchanan –  4 to 7 p.m.

Combined Locks – 5 to 7 p.m.

Fox Crossing – 4 to 7 p.m.

Freedom – 4 to 7 p.m.

Grand Chute – 4 to 7 p.m.

Greenville – 4 to 7 p.m.

Hortonville – 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30

Kaukauna – 4 to 7 p.m.

Kimberly – 5 to 7 p.m.

Little Chute – 5 to 7 p.m.

Menasha – 4 to 7 p.m.

Neenah – 4 to 7 p.m.

New London – 5 to 7 p.m.

Seymour – 4 to 6 p.m.

Shiocton — 4 to 6 p.m.

Winneconne – 4 to 7 p.m.

Wrightstown – 4 to 7 p.m.

The team at Gold Cross Ambulance wishes you and your family a fun and safe Halloween!

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