Stroke

Eating for Heart Health

South Carolina Stroke System of Care

In 2011, legislature was passed to enact the "Stroke System of Care Act of 2011" to establish a statewide system of stroke care, which requires The Department of Health and Environmental Control to recognize hospitals that are certified to be primary stroke centers and to authorize recognition of acute stroke capable centers and provide emergency medical services providers a list of primary stroke centers, stroke enabled centers through telemedicine, and other certified programs, as they come available.

Heart Attack Warning Signs

What is a Heart Attack?

A heart attack occurs when an artery that carries blood to your heart becomes blocked, usually by a blood clot. If this clot cuts off the blood flow completely, the part of your heart muscle supplied by the blocked artery begins to die. Damage to the heart muscle increases the longer you delay treatment.

Stroke is South Carolina's sixth biggest killer.

2,880- The number of people who died from stroke in South Carolina in 2020.
16,577 - The number of hospitalizations for stroke in South Carolina in 2020.
$1.3 billion - The total hospitalization charges due to stroke in South Carolina in 2020.

What is a stroke?

A stroke is an emergency! A stroke, sometimes called a brain attack, occurs when something blocks blood supply to part of the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts. In either case, parts of the brain become damaged or die.