Even with snow flying and very chilly temperatures in the 20s, many Iowa kids won’t let wintery weather get in the way of trick-or-treating tonight or tomorrow night, depending on the community.
Besides bundling up and staying visible, Poison Control Center educator Lauren Prnjat offers a few suggestions to parents for keeping kids safe. “A big thing for this year would be medicines that look like candy,” Prnjat says. ”
A lot of pills can be really colorful or just attractive to young children, so making sure you keep all medications up high and away is the biggest prevention tip that we would share.”
Halloween can be a scary time for kids if they wind up with something dangerous in their trick-or-treat bags. “We do encourage parents still to check candy to make sure everything’s in their original unopened wrapper,” she says, “and also just to check for choking hazards as well.”
In addition, she suggests checking the Halloween bags for things like laundry detergent pods and liquid nicotine.
The Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center is open round-the-clock at 800-222-1222.