3 Pumpkin Carving Safety Tips

Health & Safety Tips

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Oct 25, 2022

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Pumpkin carving safety tips can include using an authorized pumpkin carving kit, keeping sharp tools away from children, having proper lighting, and visiting Complete Care’s freestanding emergency rooms in case of emergencies. 

Whether you’re carving up a Jack-o-lantern on Halloween or are giving thanks with a decorated gourd, it’s important that these activities are carried out safely to prevent any injuries. Here are some of our pumpkin carving safety tips to keep your children safe this All Hallow’s Eve!

Tip #1: Use a special pumpkin carving kit

How do I make carved pumpkins safe for children? Carving a pumpkin is one of the many fun Halloween at-home ideas and should be enjoyed by all with adult supervision. However, as we learned from the movie Halloween, knives can be very dangerous. Sharp kitchen knives may get stuck in the pumpkin’s thick tissue or can pierce through the other side, resulting in painful hand injuries.

This is why we recommend always using a pumpkin carving kit from a store that comes with small serrated pumpkin cutting saws that are manufactured to be safe while getting the job done. The cutting and carving actions should always be carried out by an adult, but children can help in other ways including drawing the design on the pumpkin itself that the adult can then cut around. 

Tip #2: Keep your pumpkin dry to avoid slipping

Pumpkins can be quite a juicy vegetable when cut into! The slimy pulp — or the “guts” as we called them as kids — can coat your hands and the pumpkin-cutting tools making it easier for things to slip. Before you begin carving, make sure to grab a few towels or paper towels to periodically wipe off your hands, your tools, and your pumpkins to keep them nice and dry to avoid slipping.

Tip #3: Make sure your workspace is well-lit

This tip may be self-explanatory, but dimly lit areas and sharp tools can only end in a nightmare scenario. Make sure that your pumpkin carving workspace is well-lit so that you can easily see where and what you’re cutting into. 

If you plan to light up your Jack-o’-lantern, we recommend using a battery-operated candle or cutting a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin instead of the top to avoid burns from a lit flame candle. 

When to go to the ER for a cut

If pumpkin carving still leads to an injury, here are a few indicators that you should go to the emergency room:

  • The cut is gaping open and you can’t easily use gentle pressure to press the edges together
  • The cut is deep enough so that you can see exposed fatty tissue
  • The cut is located on a cosmetically significant area such as the face.
  • The cut is located on or across a joint (you may also have damaged nerves, tendons, or ligaments)
  • The cut looks contaminated from using a very dirty or rusty object
  • The cut is bleeding profusely and the flow doesn’t seem to slow (Keep reading: What to do if your child’s cut won’t stop bleeding)

Depending on the severity of the injury, you or your child may simply need basic first aid for cuts and scrapes, stitches, or in more serious cases, surgery. We understand that going to the emergency room can be a scary experience for everyone, but it’s best to let the emergency professionals handle your injury sooner rather than later. 

Have a fun and safe Halloween from Complete Care!

We hope that you are able to use our pumpkin carving safety tips. However, in the event that an accident does occur, Complete Care is a 24/7 freestanding ER that provides emergency pediatric care and emergency care for adults in Texas and Colorado Springs. Now go ahead and display that carved pumpkin out front for the whole neighborhood to see! 

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