Halloween Safety Tips

It is important to be staying mindful of your safety and others’ safety. Please keep that in mind if you are planning on going out on Halloween (or any other time of the year).

I know you have probably heard all of this a million times, but here I am to tell you again!

How are you getting home?

Whether you are at a house or the bars, how are you planning on getting home? There are plenty of options for you:

Have a designated driver (DD)

• Call a sober friend up who is able to drive you back to your residence
• Call Uber
• Call Safe Ride: 308-234-6725
  • UNK Health Promotion Office teams up with Kearney Cab Company and provides free rides for students in Kearney
  • Operating hours: Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday 9pm-2am
  • They will ONLY take you back to your residence and you must present your UNK ID at the time of the ride
  • It is a one-shot ride – no stops or detours
• Please do not drink and drive. You will put yourself, your friends, and strangers in danger; this includes pedestrians. If you are not sober, do not drive. We want Halloween to be spooky, but not dangerous. In fact, 44% of national fatal crashes during Halloween weekend involved a driver or motorcyclist with a BAC of 0.08 or higher (Edgar Snyder & Associates).

There are plenty of resources for you to keep Halloween night safe and fun.

What are you drinking?

If you do decide to drink alcohol, make sure you are being safe with it. Know that it is completely OK if you do not drink alcohol

Keep track of your drinks
This means two things:

• Count how many drinks you are consuming and know your limit
• Keep an eye on your drink at all times

Keeping count of your drinks will help you in the long run and knowing your limit will keep you from becoming too drunk. Going over your limit will make you feel worse. Keeping an eye on your drinks at all times will prevent you from getting drugged. Do not take opened drinks from strangers. Only get your own drinks and never let your drink out of your sight; if you do, just go get another drink. A helpful tip to stay hydrated and mindful of consumption is alternate your drinks with water, for everyone one drink have one glass of water.

Who are you going with?

You should not be going out alone, so who are you going to bring with you? If you are planning on consuming alcohol, your friend does not have to drink with you – they can be your sober friend.

Buddy system
No matter what you are doing, it is always smart to stick to the buddy system. You should have at least one other person with you, but the more the merrier. It would be best to have someone who is sober as well.

Bystander intervention
If you see something that does not seem right, do something about it. Even if you do not know the person, please do your best to take care of the situation. There are three strategies of bystander intervention:

• Direct – Go up and help the person
• Delegate – Notify someone to help you take care of the situation
• Distract – Distract the person with a different activity

This is not meant to scare you like the ghouls of Halloween. I simply just want you to understand how to be safe when consuming alcohol, no matter what time of year it is. Remember to have fun and be safe!

Health Promotion Office: 308-865-8092
UNKPD: 308-865-8911
KPD: 911 or 308-237-2104

References
Edgar Snyder & Associates (n.d.). Be scary safe: Drunk driving on Halloween. Retrieved from https://www.edgarsnyder.com/seasonal/halloween/halloween-drunk-driving.html

Health Direct. (2017, December). Top 7 tips for safe drinking. Retrieved from https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/top-7-tips-for-safe-drinking