Bad split

I know the readers panels at ACES conventions keep telling us that breaks and such don't seem to bother them (here's an excerpt from one panel)

EU slaps trade
sanctions on U.S.
Meredith understood the headline and explained it to Amanda in teen talk, with the "likes" and "ums." "I, like, totally understand now!" Amanda says.
Meredith: When asked if she wanted to read it, she enthusiastically nodded yes.
Mauricio knew what EU stands for because of the war; he knows other countries will punish us. He's interested in the business and importation aspects of the story.

When a headline is more than one line, do you read one line at a time or the whole thing? The panelists all said they didn't stop at the break. (From ACES Web site)

But heds with breaks like that still seem to me to be an admission we aren't as good as we should be at our craft. Here's another from this week:

S.C. Guard helps
out in Florida

There was some pretty fair white space around this hed, too. And the verb is the wrong tense; the Guard members hadn't left yet. So perhaps try this:

S.C. Guard to aid
Floridians in need

Maybe the Floridians doesn't work for you. But I think it's better than splitting terms like "helps out" that go together and better than using the wrong tense.