Fake detached fingers and blood-soaked knives have been part of the Halloween experience for years – but unfortunately so have the real things.

According to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, Halloween is one of the top three times of the year people are likely to visit an emergency room. The largest slice of those injuries will be to hands and fingers – many thanks to the dreaded pumpkin.

To avoid horror hand injuries this Halloween, the ASSH has published these tips:

Clean carving area
Make sure all your tools are clean and dry to minimise the chance of slipping at a crucial moment.
Adult supervision
Knives and kids aren’t a good combination. Leave the carving to the adults and keep an eye on the little guys to make sure they don’t decide to ‘exercise some youthful initiative’ while you’re not around.
Sharper isn’t better
Super-sharp knives can get stuck in the pumpkin, you’re better off with a saw. Or a specialised pumkin carving kit.
Proper technique
Carve away from the body in case you slip – and always be aware of the hand holding the pumkin.

Explore alternatives
Pumkin decorating kits are 99% as fun with 0% of the risk of dismemberment. Or in the southern hemisphere, you could always go with an easier to carve fruit.

And, we’d add a sixth to that… although it should go without saying: always do the carving before hitting the Beetlejuice martinis.

Have a happy and safe Halloween everyone!