Written By: Destanie Ontiveros, NCT9-1-1 Communications Coordinator
Happy Halloween! Here at NCT9-1-1, we like to celebrate Halloween like everyone else. More importantly, we like to stay safe while celebrating this festive holiday. Halloween is supposed to be fun scary, not dangerous scary. Here are some tips and tricks on how to keep your kids, pets, and other loved ones safe this spooky season!
When it comes to trick-or-treating, everyone should aim to have a spooktacular time! However, we recommend practicing trick-or-treating safety, especially amongst your kids and younger family members. Some things you can do to practice safe trick-or-treating is making sure your trick-or-treaters’ costumes are fire resistant and have reflective tape on them. This will help  keep your little goblins seen by any flashing lights and be flame retardant. To ensure the safety of our kids and loved ones, we recommend the following:
- Instruct them to never go into someone’s house or car for candy.
- Take plenty of working flashlights to help see in the dark and an adult to accompany the trick-or-treaters on their Halloween adventures.
- Have a fully charged phone and know how to call 9-1-1 for help in the event of an emergency.
To help teach your kids or any family members how to safely and successfully call 9-1-1, you can use our 9-1-1 virtual simulator app, Learn 9-1-1. The app is a great platform for kids and everyone else to practice calling 9-1-1. To request an account for the app, fill out the Public Education profile request. This form can be found on our website under the resources tab.
Our Halloween safety tip for pets is a little bit different than our tips for our trick-or-treaters. For the safety of our furry friends, we recommend securing your pets inside. Whether you are planning on trick-or-treating or staying in to pass out candy, some pets may get overstimulated by all the Halloween excitement, causing them to get scared, run away, scratch, or jump on people. Halloween pet safety is key to enjoying spooky season with your furry friend.
We hope you enjoy this spooky season with these safety tips and tricks. Remember to keep your kids and loved ones protected this Halloween season by preparing their costumes, teaching them how to call 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency, and remind them to stay out of stranger’s homes and cars. Have a ghoulishly good time this Halloween season and remember to make safety a priority.
