Hurricane Helene: Public Health Department Closures

Latest updates: Hurricane Helene

Our public health departments' hours of operation may be affected by power and staffing outages. This means that some closures may not appear on the state government office delays and closings map. The health and safety of our employees and our clients remains our highest priority. We are working to get services restored as safely and quickly as possible.

Learn more about DPH's role with hurricanes, floods, and weather emergencies.

Two of the worst places you can smoke in front of your child are in your home and automobile. Both are enclosed spaces that put your child much closer to your secondhand smoke.

  • Thirty-eight percent of children aged 2 months to 5 years are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home
  • In South Carolina, 240,000 kids breathe in secondhand smoke at home

Source: CDC, BRFSS

So, if you haven't been able to quit smoking, take it outside

  • Children of smokers are more likely to suffer from upper respiratory infections, bronchitis and pneumonia each year
  • Children of smokers have more ear infections, hearing problems and asthma than children of nonsmokers
  • Children of smokers are more likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Source: Pediatrics

By the age of five, the children of smokers have inhaled the equivalent of 102 packs of cigarettes.

  • Infants whose mothers smoke are almost four times as likely to be hospitalized
  • Children who live in households where three or more packs of cigarettes are smoked per day are more than four times as likely to need ear tubes placed to prevent frequent ear infections
  • Infants with two parents who smoke are more than twice as likely to have had pneumonia or bronchitis

Source: AAP Maricopa County Department of Public Health

Always smoke outside, away from any doors, windows or HVAC units at your home and never smoke in your automobile, especially when you're carrying passengers.

Take the Smoke-Free Home and Auto Pledge!

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