South Carolina Focus

South Carolina ranked first in the United States for child vehicular heatstrokes in 2018, and with Palmetto State temperatures reaching highs of 100 degrees during the summertime, heat exhaustion is a serious, life-threatening danger, and residents should know the signs of danger. Those who are especially vulnerable to the summer heat include young children, the elderly, and individuals who take anxiety and depression medication. Steve Shelton, the Medical Director for Emergency Management for Prisma Health Midlands and physician said that the first sign is heat cramps. The next sign is fatigue. Symptoms include nausea, headaches, and dizziness. "They'll get some dizziness, kind of swimmy-headed, they may feel very fatigued, nauseated, a headache, sweating significantly, those individuals need to try to treat themselves very quickly by trying to get cool and stop what they're doing."If all symptoms are left untreated, the heat exhaustion could then potentially progress to heatstroke.