Contact: media@bannerhealth.com

PHOENIX (Oct. 23, 2018) -- Halloween can be the scariest time of year for parents worried about possible trick-or-treating dangers and hazardous costumes.

 “At Halloween, we see everything from burns to cuts to kids falling but the big thing is that we have an increase in pedestrian injuries.So many kids are hit by cars on Halloween night,’’ says Tracey Fejt, trauma outreach coordinator for Banner Children’s, speaking of injuries that come to Banner Children’s pediatric emergency departments around Halloween.

Fejt’s comments are available on b-roll; to interview Fejt, please contact media@bannerhealth.com

Halloween is a dangerous time for kids to be walking outside: their costumes can be dark and hard to see, drivers are distracted by other kids and their costumes and there is more traffic than normal.

Fejt offers these tips to keep Halloween the right kind of scary:

In her B-roll tape, Fejt offers other safety tips as well.

• Costumes: Make sure kids’ costumes can be seen, either through choosing light-colored clothing or using reflective tape or glow sticks. Also make sure that a child can be seen from the back as well.

• Safe walking: Parents should encourage kids not to cut across streets but to use crosswalks instead or at least cross at the street corners.

• Candy check: Have children hold off on devouring their hauls until the candy can be inspected. Adults should be wary of old-looking or odd-looking candy and cast those aside.

• Fun size not always fun: Children need to be careful about food allergies. “Fun size’’ candies may contain allergens since they may be manufactured differently than regular-sized bars.