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Danos has named recipients for the company’s two most prestigious awards. The 2019 Dwain “Hog” Carrell Field Employee of the Year recipient is Chris Pitts, and the 2019 Staff Employee of the Year awardee is Melani Boudreaux.
“Both Chris and Melani embody Danos in the way they live out our company purpose to ‘Honor God and solve big challenges for our customers and communities,” said owner Eric Danos. “I am proud to have each of them recognized for their commitment to Danos and for representing our company.”
Pitts currently serves as logistics lead working on a customer platform in the Gulf of Mexico. He began his career with Danos as a rigger in 2005. Since then, he has grown within the company holding various positions including forklift and crane operator, materials coordinator, dispatcher and crew lead.
With nearly 14 years of experience, Boudreaux started working with Danos in 2015 as a human resource (HR) assistant and currently serves as an HR supervisor. Prior to working in oil and gas, she gained HR experience in the medical field and earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Nicholls State University.

Staff Report
Parish, Morgan City and Chitimacha officers made eight arrests Tuesday on charges related to drugs.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith reported these arrests:
 —Jeremy Lee Housley, 38,  Lacey Street, Franklin, was arrested at 2:31 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant for failure to appear on the charges of possession of methamphetamine, obstruction of justice by tampering with evidence and possession of marijuana. Housley was released on a $2,000 bond.
 —Marcus Shawn Robertson, 37,  Patrician Ann Street, Jeanerette, was arrested at 3:44 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of possession of cocaine. Robertson was released on a $15,000 bond.
 —Tyler Keith Stewart, 24,  Martin Luther King, Baldwin, was arrested at 9:25 p.m. on charges of possession of marijuana and illegal carrying of a weapon. Bail was set at $3,000.
 —William Ollie Ware III, 31,  Martin Luther King, Baldwin, was arrested at 12:22 a.m. Wednesday on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and proper equipment required on vehicles. Ware was released on a summons to Dec. 11.
 —Courtney McDaniel, 32,  Myra Street, Franklin, was arrested at 5:27 p.m. Tuesday by the Narcotics Section on a charge of possession of marijuana. McDaniel was released on a summons to appear Dec. 11.
 —Bernard Davis Jr., 23,  Easy Street, St. Joseph, was arrested by the Narcotics Section at 5:59 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of possession of marijuana and on a warrant for failure to appear on the charges of driving under suspension and improper lane usage. Davis was released on a summons to appear Dec. 11.
Morgan City Police Chief James F. Blair reported this arrest:
—Javien Jawan Francis, 23, Oregon Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 10:48 p.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of marijuana (first offense), possession of drug paraphernlia and resisting an officer and on a warrant for failure to appear.
Assumption Parish Sheriff Leland Falcon reported this arrest:
—Alvin John Johnson, 36, Oakmont Drive, Baton Rouge, was arrested and booked in Assumption Parish on charges of forgery, bank fraud, monetary instrument abuse and theft under $1,000 and on a hold for the Church Point Police Department.
Johnson’s arrest was part of an investigation into a fraudulent check-cashing scheme in the Pierre Part area in late July.
On Aug. 5, detectives began investigating the case when several checks drawn on area businesses were cashed at a local retail outlet. The checks had been illegally produced.
Through a complex investigation covering several jurisdictions, a number of suspects were identified, including Johnson.
Detectives issued warrants for Johnson and he was arrested Sept. 4 in East Baton Rouge Parish.
On Tuesday, Johnson was booked into the Assumption Parish Detention Center, where he remains pending a bond hearing.
The other suspects arrested in the case are Garrett Hopwood, 26, Zachary; Anthony Vega, 36, Walker; and Tricia Cortez, 32, Zachary.
Chitimacha Police Chief Chief Hal Hutchinson reported these arrests:
 —Cheryl Ladnier, 61, Chitimacha Loop Road, Charenton, was arrested Tuesday on tribal charges of theft, possession of drugs (felony), possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of drugs in a drug-free zone.  She was transported to the parish jail. 
On Monday, officers responded to a tribal residence in reference to a theft.  During the investigation, it was learned Ladnier committed the theft and was in possession of illegal narcotics and was arrested.
 —Janet Mayers, 40, Abbeville, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of theft and released on a summons. 
On July 7, 2018, officers responded to a tribal business in reference to a theft.  During the investigation, it was learned Mayers was involved but had already left the premises.  A warrant was issued for Mayers. 
Mayers was arrested by the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office and turned over without incident.

Terrebonne General Medical Center is raising awareness about sepsis during Sepsis Awareness Month again this September.
Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection, which can lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death.
Sepsis takes more lives than opioid overdose, breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. As many as 80% of sepsis deaths could be prevented with rapid diagnosis and treatment
. Sepsis remains a public health crisis, taking a life every two minutes in the United States. The key to saving lives is TIME. This acronym stands for: temperature, infection, mental decline, and extremely ill.
If any of these signs are present it is urgent to seek medical treatment.
TGMC takes an active stance and saving lives by educating the staff and community. Every patient that comes through the Emergency Department is screened for sepsis.
The hospital prevents possible infections by hand-washing and ensuring patients get all recommended vaccines. The staff is able to act fast if sepsis is suspected.
Each patient’s progress is checked frequently and antibiotic therapy is assessed.in order to prevent sepsis from occurring.
TGMC also urges patients to do their part and get vaccinated, wash hands, care for open wounds, and if prescribed to antibiotics take them properly. This September, TGMC is asking everyone to take TIME to save lives.
For every hour treatment is delayed the risk of death increases by as much as 8%.
“TGMC is creating awareness by taking every measure possible to put an end to sepsis,” said Phyllis Peoples, president and CEO. “Prevention is the key along with detecting Sepsis early and starting immediate treatment which often is the difference between life and death.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an article by local Centers for Disease Control Sentinel Physician Dr. Robert P. Blereau of Morgan City. This article is based on the publication “Pathophysiology, Transmission, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) A Review” W. Joost Wiersinga, MD, PhD, et al, JAMA, 2020; 324(8):782-793, 8/25/2020.
The first coronavirus to cause severe disease was SARS\-CoV-2, (severe acute respiratory syndrome) which began in Foshaw, China in 2002.
The second was MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) which began on the Arabian Peninsula in 2012.
And now the latest coronavirus is COVID-19 that is said to have begun in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
The most common form of spread of the virus are droplets from the mouth and nose during talking, coughing or sneezing.
Symptomatic persons within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes are at higher risk.
Contact surface spread is also a possibility which may last 3 to 4 days.
It is estimated 30 to 40% of coronavirus infected individuals are asymptomatic.
Since this is a respiratory virus infection the most common symptoms are that of a common cold including loss of taste and/or smell, fever, chills, cough, runny nose, headache, sore throat, shortness of breath, hoarseness and fatigue.
Sicker patients, due to viral inflammation of blood vessels of one or more organs in any part of the body, can develop pneumonia, liver injury, acute heart failure, heart attacks. arrhythmias, blood clots and strokes.
Other less common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
The younger the patient without comorbidities, in general, the milder the disease.
Though comorbidities are present in 25% of infected individuals, they are present in 60 to 90% of hospitalized patients. Comorbidities include older age, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung, renal and liver disease, and cancer.
For unknown reasons COVID-19 infection in children have milder symptoms — usually just related to the upper respiratory tract.
A rare multisystem inflammatory disease in children occurs in 2 in 100,000 aged less than 21 years.
Diagnosis of COVID-19 is usually made on a nasal-throat swab for polymerase chain reaction at the usual site of entry of the virus.
Other testing sites, in decreasing order of highest positive rates, are lung fluid (98%), sputum (72%), nasal (63%) and throat swabs (32%), and feces, but not urine.
Blood antibody tests showing the body’s reaction to COVID-19 infection may be helpful but may take days to weeks to become positive.
It is unknown if the presence of COVID-19 antibody provides protection against COVID-19 infection, or for how long.
Chest X-ray and CT show a typical ground glass appearance and when present, can help establish a diagnosis.
An important part of COVID-19 infection care, when indicated depending on severity, is oxygen, either nasally or by endotracheal intubation, which helps the lungs recover and/or prevent further lung damage.
Antiviral drugs being evaluated or used for COVID-19 infection include convalescent plasma (antibodies), anti-inflammatory agents (dexamethasone, stat-ins), immunomodulation drugs, anticoagulants and antifibrotics.
Remdesivir given intravenously in hospital has decreased recovery time from 15 days to 11 days.
Dexamethasone has shown decrease in hospital deaths in the severely ill.
Most of the above drugs would be used in the hospital to inhibit the body’s deleterious response to the virus.
More than 200 trials of chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine with and without azithromycin are ongoing with few completed. Results are conflicting with no final recommendations for or against at this time.
Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have been used for over a half century and considered safe for prevention of malaria and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. These drugs may cause QT prolongation on EKG, an electrical problem in the heart that can be associated with a rapid heart rate and death.
Use hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine with caution, if at all, in patients with cardiac disease until more studies are available.
Low income and minority groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 with respect to hospitalizations and deaths.
This may be a reflection of comorbidities, housing, transportation and economics.
Long term consequences of COVID-19 are unknown but may be significant for those with severe illness.
COVID-19 vaccines, both one or two shots and nasal, are being developed and should be considered by all without contraindications, to help end the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible.