Samaritan scans Halloween candy for safety
Kids can check out their candy on the r-x-ray machine at Samaritan Hospital this weekend.
MOSES LAKE — Halloween urban legends of apples filled with razor blades and restless ghosts give trick-or-treaters a fright.
Moses Lake doesn’t have any haunted houses, and the restless ghost in the Moses Lake High School theater turned out to be a guy who fell off some scaffolding and got stuck in a wall years back.
But just to be safe, Samaritan Hospital provides free x-rays of Halloween candy on Saturday.
Kids get to see the x-ray machines work as hospital technicians scan their loot from the evening and make sure it’s safe to eat.
“The little ones, like two and under, don’t want to give us their candy,” says Samaritan Hospital community relations director, Connie Opheikens. “We have little kids who try to look behind the machine and want to know where their candy went. One girl wanted to know if it was going to melt her candy.”
The Diagnostic Imaging director Bim Lindsey will be on site to set up the portable x-ray machine and technicians will be present to explain how they work.
Samaritan has offered this service for more than 15 years, and the most dangerous item ever found was a staple that had been pushed into a piece of chocolate.
If they can stand to give up their candy for a few minutes, kids will get to see it’s picture on a screen.
“It’s kind of a learning experience for the kids,” Opheikens said. “It gives us a chance to explain how the x-ray machine works, kids can see the candy on the screen. If it isn’t going to hurt the candy, they can see it isn’t going to hurt them.”
X-ray machines will be set up in the lobby of Samaritan Hospital on Saturday night from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. The service is free to the public.
Become a Subscriber!
You have read all of your free articles this month. Select a plan below to start your subscription today.
Already a subscriber? Login
