Tag Archives: Hilton Head

Grill The Right Way This Summer

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Did you know that food poisoning peaks in the summer months due to warmer temperatures causing foodborne germs to spread?  Memorial Day Weekend is right around the corner.  Avoid food poisoning by taking the necessary precautions when grilling.  Follow these steps from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure you are cooking the healthy way:

  • Separate meat, poultry, and seafood in your shopping cart and grocery bags to guard against cross-contamination. Put packages of raw meat and poultry into individual plastic bags.
  • Keep meat, poultry, and seafood refrigerated until ready to grill. When transporting, keep below 40 degrees Fahrenheit in an insulated cooler.
  • Wash your hands with soap BEFORE and AFTER handling raw meat, poultry, and seafood. Wash work surfaces, utensils, and the grill before and after cooking.
  • Clean your grill and tools. Use a moist cloth to clean the surface before cooking.
  • When using marinades and sauces that have touched raw meat, pour out any residual juices. Those juices can spread germs to cooked foods.  Use clean utensils and a clean plate to remove cooked meat from the grill.
  • Use a food thermometer to ensure meat is cooked hot enough to kill harmful germs. When smoking, keep temperatures inside the smoker at 225°F to 300°F to keep meat a safe temperature while it cooks.
    • 145°F – whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and veal (stand-time of 3 minutes at this temperature)
    • 145°F – fish
    • 160°F – hamburgers and other ground beef
    • 165°F – all poultry and pre-cooked meats, like hot dogs
  • Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within two hours of cooking (one hour if above 90°F outside).

For more food safety information, visit:  https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/communication/bbq-iq.html

Be Sun Safe: May is Skin Cancer Prevention Month

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Sundress and shorts season has officially begun.  Are you protected?  According to the 2018 South Carolina Health Assessment, melanoma of skin (skin cancer) is the 5th leading cause of new cancer cases in the state (see below).

Skin Cancer Table

Did you know that skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States with nearly 5 million people treated each year?  Skin cancer is caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun and other sources such as tanning beds.  Anyone can get skin cancer, but it can be cured if found and treated early.  Talk to your doctor if you notice any unusual moles or changes to your skin.

Whether you are taking a trip to the beach or doing some much-needed gardening, it is important to protect your skin from the sun.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), here are some tips to keep in mind:

  • Stay in the shade, especially during midday hours
  • Wear clothing that covers your arms and legs
  • Wear a hat with a wide brim to shade your face, head, ears, and neck
  • Wear sunglasses that wrap around and block UVA and UVB rays
  • Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) or 15 or higher, and both UVA and UV protection
  • Avoid indoor tanning

Being in the sun does not have to be worrisome.  Just make sure you protect yourself. Visit the CDC for more fun safety tips and  follow their  hashtag #SunSafeSelfie for pictures of people all over the world who are taking action to protect themselves from the sun – and having fun while doing it!

DHEC in the News: Flu shots, women’s health disparities, ‘Healthy Churches’ conference

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Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

Put flu shot on the list of musts

While unusual health threats of all types make headlines, the public should not fail to be proactive against a common illness that contributes to the deaths of 3,000 to 50,000 individuals every year depending on the severity of the season.

The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. The flu can cause mild to severe illness and can be deadly — especially to vulnerable people, including the very young, the elderly and those with certain chronic health conditions. Symptoms can include a sudden onset of fever, dry cough, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, sore throat, and nasal congestion or stuffiness.

OnPoint on WACH Fox: Health disparities and SC women

COLUMBIA, SC (WACH) – This week on OnPoint on WACH Fox we examine health disparities and women in South Carolina.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control offers something called the Best Chance Network and it is pulling women out of the shadows to help save lives.

‘Healthy Churches’ national conference planned for Hilton Head to address health disparities

Pernessa Seele, who grew up in Lincolnville, found herself a long way from the Lowcountry at the height of the AIDS crisis.

An immunologist by training, Seele worked with HIV/AIDS patients in New York City in the 1980s and couldn’t help but wonder why churches weren’t doing more to educate their congregations about the growing epidemic. …

In November, Seele will bring Balm in Gilead’s national Healthy Churches conference to Hilton Head.

DHEC in the News: West Nile, septic tanks, abandoned boats

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Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

DHEC: West Nile and Mosquitos Still a Problem in SC

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)–The calendar may say October but the temperatures have felt more like the middle of summer and that’s why State Health and City officials don’t want you to let your guard down when it comes to mosquitos.

DHEC says there has been an increase in the number of mosquitos infected with West Nile this year.

According to DHEC, human cases of West Nile have been confirmed in Anderson, Beaufort, Greenville, Horry, Laurens, Lexington, Richland, Spartanburg, Union, and York counties.

General Interest

Plan underway to eliminate septic tanks, decrease sewage leaks

In a move to stop sewage from leaking into our local waterways, a local town is offering financial assistance for people to get rid of septic tanks.

It’s a picture perfect place to paddle board, but be careful not to ingest the water around Shem Creek.

Tired of seeing Hilton Head’s Broad Creek used as a ‘Dumpster’? 3 residents step up to remove abandoned boats.

After waiting nearly a year, a group of Hilton Head Island residents are taking it upon themselves to clean up boats that were abandoned in the Broad Creek.

After Hurricane Matthew destroyed Palmetto Bay Marina last year, the number of boats moored in the Broad Creek nearly doubled. The legal process to deem the boats abandoned only started a couple weeks ago and will take months to complete.

DHEC in the News: Tire recycling, Hilton Head beaches, new treatment for heart failure

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Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

Homeland Park residents cheer closing of tire recycling business

Homeland Park resident Steve Allen’s wife suffers from respiratory problems. But he said she can breathe better now that the tire recycling business near their home has closed.

Dave Homesley, who also lives close to the now-defunct Viva Recycling on Abbeville Highway, says the dust, fumes and noise created by business were a “catastrophe.”

“It has been very, very, very traumatic,” Homesley said.

Viva Recycling’s facilities in Anderson County and Monck’s Corner north of Charleston both shut down a few months ago. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control revoked the operating permits for both sites in September.

3 weeks after Irma, are Hilton Head waters safe to swim in yet?

Three weeks after Tropical Storm Irma, there’s some good news for Hilton Head Island residents and visitors.

The beaches are safe to swim in, according to water quality test results from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The department collected beach monitoring samples in the Hilton Head on Sept. 20 and the results were “satisfactory,” according to a DHEC spokesperson.

General Interest

New treatment for heart failure sought in research led by Clemson University

CLEMSON — Heart-attack damage could be repaired with stem cells and tiny “nanowires” as part of a new research project that involves all three of South Carolina’s major research universities and is backed by $1.5 million from the National Institutes of Health.

Ying Mei, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Clemson University, is leading the project.