95 kids turn out for Halloween candy X-rays

Samaritan Healthcare finds staple in chocolate heart

MOSES LAKE - More kids got their candy examined under Samaritan Healthcare's portable X-ray machine this year, but there were two holdouts.

The hospital offered free X-ray examinations of Halloween candy in its lobby Wednesday evening.

"We actually wound up staying until 10 minutes after 9 p.m.," Samaritan Community Relations Coordinator Connie Opheikens said. "Ninety-five was our last count, and that didn't include the two that refused to let us X-ray their candy. We had two little ones that were not going to give up that candy for anything."

Last year, the program drew about 55, so the numbers almost doubled from 2006, she noted.

"We had a steady flow all night long," Opheikens said.

Many of the parents had read about the event in the newspaper or heard about it through word of mouth, she said.

"A lot of new people that had not done it in the past, and then of course we had that sprinkling of people who do it every year," Opheikens said.

A staple was found in a piece of candy. Opheikens was uncertain whether the staple was deliberately placed in the candy, nor from where it originated.

"It was a piece of chocolate in a heart shape, it was foil-covered, and the foil cover on the back was peeled back a little and there was a staple in it," Opheikens said. "I asked the parents, and they had been all over, there was no way to narrow it down. And again, we don't know that it was intentionally placed. But we found it, and that's the important thing. Whether it fell off a piece of paper or not, that just shows parents need to check that candy very carefully."

The trick-or-treater's neighbor had gone along, and a staple was found in his bag, too.

"But his staple was one of those that was already closed, and it wasn't in candy, it was just in the bag," Opheikens said of the latter staple.

Opheikens said she was surprised by the amount of toys given out this year, which always show up as a solid on the X-rays. A toy was also occasionally put in the X-rays for the children to distinguish on the screen.

"Everybody was very positive," she said. "It happens to be one of my favorite projects I do because not only do I get to interact with the children, I get to interact with the parents, too."

There are "absolutely" plans to offer the X-ray program again next year, too, Opheikens said.