About this time next week many of you will be making those final tweaks to your costumes, filling your candy bowls and making sure you have plenty of batteries for your flashlight. That’s right…another Halloween night is upon us! While Halloween is all about fun and candy, there are still many important things you need to consider before heading out into the night, especially if your child has a food allergy.

We all know the basic Halloween safety tips but have you ever thought about the extra precautions the parent of a child with a food allergy must consider?

Here is a short list of tips from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) that is sure to help parents protect their children with food allergies during Halloween:

• Be sure your child carries emergency medication, such as an epinephrine auto-injector.
• Before Halloween, distribute safe snacks to neighbors and request that they be handed out to your child.
• Accompany younger children as they trick-or-treat, or be sure they are supervised by a responsible adult who knows how to handle an emergency allergic reaction.
• Remember that small candy bars passed out to trick-or-treaters may have different ingredients than their regular-size counterparts. Even if a certain candy is safe for your child, the ‘fun size’ version might not be.

You can even download a full version of these tips from the AAAAI site by clicking here: http://is.gd/4xRfX

At American Medical ID we know the importance of identifying those with a food allergy so we would also recommend that your child wear a medical ID bracelet or necklace, engraved with the foods your child should avoid, while trick-or-treating. To view some of our products, CLICK HERE.

For even more information about trick-or-treating and keeping your child safe during Halloween, here are a couple of sites we found helpful:

• CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/family/halloween/
• FAAN: http://www.foodallergy.org/media/press_releases/halloween09.html

Carthy Picton

Marketing

American Medical ID

As many of you may know, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of this campaign. It is estimated that 193,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the US this year. Aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women today.¹

If you look around you, you will see the unique things people are doing to help promote awareness of this disease and the efforts to find a cure. For instance, this past Saturday over 30,000 people participated in the 2009 Komen Houston Race for the Cure ®. The event is expected raise almost $3 million, of which 75 cents of every dollar collected will be used to treat, screen and educate the medically underserved in the Houston area.

Also, along with many others, last night I was watching the Steelers vs. Chargers game and couldn’t help but be touched by all of the different ways these professional athletes and coaches are showing their support. From pink shoes, pink sweatbands and pink ribbon stickers on helmets, it was awesome to see the NFL getting involved this year. When thinking of the millions of people that watch NFL football, you can see how widespread this campaign is.

To find out more about National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and ways to get involved, click here: http://www.nbcam.org.

Carthy Picton
Marketing
American Medical ID

¹ http://www.nbcam.org/disease_breast_cancer.cfm