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DHEC in the News: Flu, West Nile, Narcan

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

DHEC to start offering flu vaccines Monday

Now is a good time to get a flu shot, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Beginning Monday, DHEC county public health departments will begin offering the flu vaccine.

It takes about two weeks after vaccination for the antibodies to develop in the body that protect against the flu, Dr. Teresa Foo, DHEC immunization medical consultant, said in a statement.

Richland County facing most active West Nile season in more than a decade

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – The most active West Nile season in at least half a decade – maybe even more than a decade – is how the director of Richland County Vector Control describes 2017 in her county.

“This has been the most intense activity since it arrived here in around 2003,” said Tammy Brewer, the director.

Wednesday, the county office put out an urgent plea to citizens. West Nile is out there, so protect yourself.

Officers being armed with life-saving drug

From a routine traffic stop to medical emergency in someone’s home, law enforcement officers are confronted with deadly drugs routinely.

“The drugs are more prominent on the street,” Mt. Pleasant Chief of Police, Carl Ritchie, explained.  “It can kill an officer by just touching it.”

That’s why Chief Ritchie says the Town of Mt. Pleasant approved police to carry nasal spray Narcan this week.

DHEC in the News: EMT jobs, WiseWoman health screenings, Narcan

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

EMS Officials Working With Technical College System to Fill EMT Jobs

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)- Agencies from around the state made their way to Columbia to discuss how to raise the number of emergency medical technicians.

“We have a shortage in South Carolina. People tend to be educate in South Carolina, become EMTs in South Carolina, and then not stick around. We have a decline every single year in the amount of paramedics that we have in the state,” DHEC EMS Bureau Chief Robert Wronski. “This year we have seen a 1.2 percent decrease in the amount of credentialed paramedics that we have in the state.”

RMC offers free WiseWoman health screenings

The Regional Medical Center and the Tri-County Health Network will offer free WiseWoman™ health screenings and lifestyle education to 200 women ages 40-64 on Saturday, Oct. 14. Doors open at 8 a.m., with screenings available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the RMC Annex.

The WiseWoman™ (Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for WOMen Across the Nation) health screening aims to help low-income women reduce their risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Horry County Sheriff’s Deputies will now carry Narcan

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) – For the first time, the Horry County Sheriff’s Office will begin using Narcan.

The Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Law Enforcement Officer Naloxone (LEON) program, which is a partnership between South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS), and the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office for Narcan training on Tuesday and Wednesday.

DHEC in the News: Opioid Crisis, Narcan, Mt. Pleasant Water

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Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around the state.

Legislators to hold public hearing on opioid crisis

(Greenville, SC – Greenville News) – State legislators will hold a public hearing in Greenville this week to hear from those who have been personally impacted by opioid abuse and addiction.

Overdoses from opioids, which includes heroin, have quadrupled in the last decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 594 opioid-related overdose deaths in South Carolina in 2015, up 12 percent from 2014.

Overdoses involving heroin increased by 57 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to DHEC.

The cost of a drug used to treat opioid overdoses is rising

DHEC to test Mount Pleasant water for pesticides Tuesday

(Mt. Pleasant, SC – ABCNews4) Officials with Mount Pleasant Waterworks want to put minds at ease about possible pesticides in the tap water. Joined by experts at Charleston Water System, they held a public forum Monday afternoon.

“We don’t believe there’s a problem,” said Clay Duffie, general manager of MPW. “We want you to believe there’s not a problem with your water.”

Duffie said DHEC testing will begin Tuesday, focusing on three neighborhoods, Dunes West, Park West and Rivertown. He said due to demand and concern, DHEC officials contributed extra money to expedite the results, which should take about five business days.

Check our blog regularly for more health and environmental news.