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ISTVAN STEVE HERMAN

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 11:26am

Istvan Steve Herman
Istvan Steve Herman, 83, a native of Lentikopolna, Hungary, and a resident of Berwick, died Wednesday, July 29, 2020.
He is survived by his wife, Dolores Crappell Herman; a daughter, Stephanie Hayles; a son, Brient Herman; eight grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; two sisters, Annush and Elizabeth, both of Hungary; and a host of other relatives.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a daughter and two siblings.
Due to the pandemic, graveside services will be held at a later date.

LSU is a leader in state's contact tracing

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 11:21am

LSU’s Stephenson Disaster Management Institutewas entrusted last May with ramping up the state’s contact tracing program with a $1 million contract from the Louisiana Department of Health, or LDH. Since then, its role has greatly expanded.
Within two weeks of receiving its contract from the state in early May, SDMI helped train 15-20 agents so they could begin making phone calls. Case interviewers started reaching out to those who had recently tested positive for COVID-19 to collect symptoms, ask if they needed assistance such as healthcare, housing, food or otherwise and determine if they could have exposed others to infection. The current threshold set by the state is at least 15 minutes within close proximity. Next, the names of those who could be infected were passed to contact tracers who would reach out to encourage a 14-day quarantine.
The program grew quickly. Within a month, SDMI had assisted call centers in onboarding and training nearly 400 agents. Two weeks ago, as positive cases started to significantly increase, they began working with the four call centers contracted by the Office of Public Health, or OPH, which falls under LDH, to add an additional 250 agents, for a total of 700 case interviewers and contact tracers. SDMI now effectively coordinates the effort for the entire state with separate call centers in New Orleans, Lafayette and Monroe.
Initially, SDMI and OPH focused on providing self-paced training to new agents via a Moodle-based learning management system customized and managed by SDMI students and staff. This job then expanded to now include direct training for all new agents on the software platform used by the state to conduct contact tracing. Although education remains a central component of the work, the LSU institute’s role has grown. With a team of six LSU computer science students, SDMI Director Brant Mitchell now offers technical support for the state’s software platform to all agents, including those who aren’t working out of traditional call centers but their own homes, due to social distancing requirements.
“It’s been an expanding role,” Mitchell said. “Since the agents are handling protected health data, the information has to be secure. We need to make sure they’re trained to use properly configured office equipment, have a base level of proper cyber etiquette and understand the threats to operating safely in a digital environment, such as knowing what a phishing email looks like, understanding the impacts of ransomware and knowing how certain applications can be used to deliver malware.”
An additional group of SDMI computer science student workers have been involved in developing dashboards for OPH leadership so they can monitor several aspects of the contact tracing program at once. Colorful graphs and maps, with the state split into nine public health regions, connect users with a live feed to see the number of agents enrolled in training or having completed specific courses as well as how many agents are actively working in each region and parish. SDMI is in the early stages of developing a new dashboard built specifically for hurricane season to ensure state planners have access to tropical storm data and COVID-19 information in a single location to help prepare for possible evacuations—including of those who would or might be evacuating with COVID-19.
SDMI was recently tasked with reviewing several of the state’s continuity-of-operations plans to make sure they are updated with the latest information on how to sustain the contact tracing program.
“Our call center in Monroe is very important for hurricane season,” Mitchell said. “If we have any type of infrastructure disruption down here in south Louisiana, the contact tracing program will still need to continue. That’s why it’s critical to have resources in north Louisiana.”
An important aspect of contact tracing is making sure calls aren’t just made but answered. The program is working with local news media to make the outgoing phone number of the call centers known. It is also working with independent cell phone carriers, so phones will flash “Louisiana Department of Health” instead of a potentially unknown number.
“There are, as you might understand, several aspects to a state-wide effort of this scale,” Mitchell said. “Louisiana actually had a robust contact tracing program before this, but outbreaks in the past were small enough that state epidemiologists could do the contact tracing themselves or leverage staff within the Louisiana Department of Health. Now OPH has invested in a custom application to conduct contact tracing that is built off a widely used software platform called Salesforce. As a result, we have a world-class platform in place to manage the current epidemic that will be available to assist with large events that may happen in the future. Our ability to ramp up and respond will be significantly greater next time, allowing Louisiana to get in front of it instead of playing catch-up as we’ve all been doing across the country because no one was ready for this.”
As an emergency management center and applied research center, SDMI continues to refine its contributions to the state’s contact tracing program on all levels—training, data security, software development, privacy protection, continuity of operations, hurricane planning, monitoring, as well as evaluation of the performance of individual call centers and the effectiveness of the overall program itself. As the state’s needs have evolved, SDMI staff and students have brought more skills to bear on the contact tracing effort.
“As the program continues to grow and there is a new area that needs assistance, we are able to offer our support and expertise to address the issues and develop workable solutions to continue moving the program forward,” Mitchell said. “We all want to get back to normal and having a robust and effective contact tracing program is part of that process. If we can use our resources to help the state fight the pandemic and disrupt the disease, that’s something everyone here at SDMI can be proud of."
We’re thankful to have this opportunity to play a role in the state’s overall response.”

Grant will help cancer center enhance telemedicine

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 11:20am

During the COVID-19 pandemic, video visits between physicians and their patients add an extra layer of protection to cancer patients who have compromised immune systems.
Mary Bird Perkins TGMC Cancer Center recently received a $5,000 grant from The Bayou Community Foundation to help expand their telemedicine services. The dollars will enable the Cancer Center to enhance its technology capabilities with the purchase of iPads, protective cases, licensing fees and charging stations for the new instruments. The funds will also provide a sanitation device that uses UV rays to clean the telecommunication equipment every night.
As one of its many responses to COVID-19, the Cancer Center quickly expanded telemedicine visits for patients to prevent them from visiting the Cancer Center for consultations and check-ups, ensuring their safety and wellbeing.
“The ability to use technology to allow our physicians to connect with their patients has been key to ensuring they remain connected with those they serve in the safest manner possible,” said Melanie Guilbeaux, Oncology Director at Mary Bird Perkins TGMC Cancer Center. “Because of this generous grant from The Bayou Community Foundation, our patients and their loved ones will be able to easily communicate with their physicians during consultations, speak with their patient navigators and even meet with our dietician all from the comfort of their homes.”
The Cancer Center offers comprehensive, patient-focused cancer treatment and support services. With a combination of exceptional resources and highly-experienced and compassionate physicians and staff, patients receive the highest quality care available right here at home.
The grant is provided through The Bayou Community Foundation’s Bayou Recovery Fund for COVID-19 Relief grant program. Since April, the Foundation has awarded $441,750 in emergency grants to local nonprofits.
For more information about services offered at Mary Bird Perkins TGMC Cancer Center, visit mbptgmc.org.
Caption: Layne Bordelon, MBPTGMC Cancer Center Development Coordinator accepts COVID-19 grant check from Henry Lafont, President of the Bayou Community Foundation Board of Directors.

St. Mary CAA wins safety award

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 11:18am

Staff Report
St. Mary Community Action Agency Inc. has been awarded the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Company’s Safest 70 Award for 2019-2020.
Winners are selected from four premium groups starting at $20,000. They must be in good standing with Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Company for five consecutive years and work effectively with the LWCC Safety Services Team. St. Mary CAA is one of 70 agencies that have been.
This is the first safety award the agency has received since 2015.
Louisiana Workers’ Comp-ensation Corp. is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company that is the largest workers’ compensation carrier in the state.
Established in 2008, this award was created to honor policyholders who share LWCC’s commitment to “workplace safety” and acknowledge customers leading the way in employee health and wellness.

Electronic record system in place at Ochsner St. Mary

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 11:14am

Ochsner St. Mary has announced the implementation of the Epic electronic medical records system throughout Ochsner St. Mary and its affiliated clinics.
This milestone signifies the completion of Ochsner St. Mary’s integration into the Ochsner Health Network.
In March 2019, Ochsner announced an intent to strategically partner with Teche Regional Medical Center, which was renamed Ochsner St. Mary in fall 2019.
As part of the partnership agreement, Ochsner agreed to invest $6 million to install and implement Ochsner’s instance of the software. The Epic transition was completed on Sunday.
“We are pleased to offer Epic to Ochsner St. Mary patients and bring them the benefits of this leading health technology,” said Ochsner St. Mary CEO Fernis LeBlanc.
“Epic allows patient information to be securely accessed by all Ochsner providers, meaning that no matter where a patient chooses to visit, the medical staff at that facility will have full access to the patient’s medical record, ensuring the highest quality of care.”
With Epic, the leading electronic health record system in the United States, Ochsner St. Mary patients will have access to the MyOchsner patient portal, which includes convenient, secure features such as:
—Online appointment booking
—Fast and easy online bill pay
—Quick access to test results and medical records
—Health education materials
—Prescription refill requests
—Ability to message providers directly
Physicians from any Ochsner or partner facility can view a patient’s Epic medical record, which means improved care coordination and communication among providers.
Ochsner St. Mary is a full-service, 164-bed acute care facility providing quality medical services to the people of St. Mary Parish and the surrounding areas.
The hospital offers an extensive range of services, including a 24-hour emergency department, intensive care unit, maternity suites with state-of-the-art monitoring for mothers and babies, inpatient behavioral health, and both inpatient and outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy. Ochsner St. Mary also offers many advanced medical technologies, including MRI, digital mammography, low-dose CT, full-service lab and more. For more information, call 985-384-2200.

Minor injuries in two-vehicle crash in Bayou Vista

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 11:08am

The Daily Review/Bill Decker
Two people received minor injuries in a two-vehicle crash early Thursday on eastbound U.S. 90 in front of the Bayou Vista Walmart, the St. Mary Sheriff's Office said. At least one person was being prepared for medical transport after the crash, which happened just before 8 a.m. Eastbound traffic was restricted to one lane for about an hour.

Nicholls State professor will study turtles' impact on the coast

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 11:04am

A Nicholls State University biology professor received nearly $150,000 to study diamondback terrapins and their influence on the Louisiana coast.
The Loui-siana Board of Regents awarded Dr. Timothy Clay, assistant professor of biological sciences, $149,681. The grant is part of the regents’ Research Compet-itiveness Subprogram.
Diamondback terrapins get their name from the diamond pattern on the top of their shell. They are the only turtles in the U.S. that live their entire lives in brackish water — a mix of freshwater and saltwater. Though they have habitats from Texas to Massachusetts, much of their history in Louisiana is unknown.
The three-year grant will allow Clay and his students to conduct a long-term mark-and-recapture study. This method of marking, releasing and later counting the marks will allow for a population estimate. They will use that information to establish data such as population, sex ratio and annual survival rates.
Also, Clay’s research will look at the impact of the blue crab fishery on the diamondback terrapin. Commercial blue crab fishing is considered a top threat to the survival of the turtle.
The research will estimate how often the turtles are caught and potentially killed in crab traps.
They also hope to learn if the turtles are using newly restored coastal areas, such as Queen Bess Island.
The research will examine whether turtles are foraging, breeding or nesting in these coastal places.
“This research will involve students at different stages in their academic tenure, providing valuable research and mentoring experiences outside of the classroom for both undergraduates and graduates,” Clay said. “
The proposed research is important because understanding single species in an ecosystem allows us to better understand the entire ecosystem.
"Here, we are looking at the salt marshes of coastal Louisiana, an area whose natural resources are intertwined with people in a socially and economically complex relationship.”

PSB gives to Patterson Athletic Boosters

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 10:54am

Submitted Photo
Patterson State Bank's Bill Marin, chairman of the board and CEO, presents a donation to new Patterson High School head coach Zach Lochard. The funds were originally donated for the PHS Athletic Booster Golf Tournament. Though the tournament has been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Patterson State Bank committed to donating the funds directly to the Athletic Boosters.

Morgan City police radio logs for July 28-29

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 10:49am

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the police department at 985-380-4605.
Tuesday, July 28
7:32 a.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Alarm.
11:41 a.m. 1600 block of Elm Street; Juvenile problems.
11:59 a.m. 1200 block of David Drive; Suspicious subject.
12:09 p.m. Lake End Park area; Reckless driver.
12:54 p.m. 7100 block of Southeast Railroad Avenue ; Complaint.
3:05 p.m. 700 block of General Hodges Street; Disturbance.
3:09 p.m. 1200 block of Victor II Boulevard; Accident.
4:02 p.m. 2300 block of Freret Street; Patrol.
5:04 p.m. 1100 block of Victor II Boulevard; Accident.
5:07 p.m. 700 block of Greenwood Street; Animal complaint.
6:16 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Officer stand by.
6:51 p.m. 2400 block of Apple Street; Medical.
7:29 p.m. 300 block of Terrebonne Street; Removal of subject.
9:42 p.m. 200 block of Halsey Street; Complaint.
Wednesday, July 29
4:49 a.m. Federal Avenue and Onstead Street; Suspicious person.

Avoid painful ‘brain freeze’ when enjoying frosty desserts

Thu, 07/30/2020 - 10:27am

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” When Howard Johnson, Billy Moll and Robert A. King penned this novelty song in the late 1920s, the screaming they referenced was a cheer among students at a fictional college in a “land of ice and snow, up among the Eskimo.”
For anyone who has gobbled up an ice cream treat a little too quickly, those screams very well may speak to the sharp headache that often comes from consuming frozen foods too quickly.
Identifying “brain freeze/ice cream headache”
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center neuroscientist Dwayne Goodwin, Ph.D., explained in a 2013 news release that the sudden, short headache that occurs when eating or drinking something very cold, which most people refer to as “brain freeze,” is actually called sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.
There are several theories why brain freeze occurs. One theory suggests that when a person eats or drinks a large quantity of very cold food or liquid, the temperature of his or her palate decreases considerably. The blood vessels in this area automatically constrict to maintain the body’s core temperature before reopening quickly. This causes a rebound dilation that sends a pain signal to the brain through the trigeminal nerve, which is located in the middle of the face and forehead.
Although the constriction and dilation of blood vessels occurs in the palate, the pain is felt elsewhere, a phenomenon known as “referred pain.”
Alleviating the shock
Now that people understand the starting point for brain freeze, and what causes it, they might want to make a few changes to how they consume cold foods and beverages.
Eric Fredette, a long-time “Flavor Guru” for Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, says one way to stop brain freeze is to stir up the ice cream to warm it slightly.
Dr. Stephani Vertrees, a headache specialist and clinical assistant professor at Texas A&M College of Medicine, advises eating cold food much more slowly so that your mouth can warm it up as well.
Another tip is to keep the food or beverage in the front of your mouth. Cold foods in the back of the mouth will stimulate brain freeze.
When consuming ice cream by spoon, Fredette further suggests flipping the spoon upside down so that the ice cream hits the tongue rather than the upper palate when spooned into the mouth.
Frosty treats do not have to cause painful headaches that have people screaming for the wrong reasons. These few tips may prevent brain freeze from happening.

Did you know?

Foods don’t get much more coveted than a scoop or two of delicious ice cream on a hot day.
Ice cream comes in scores of different flavors. Just ask Baskin Robbins, which has long touted its own “31 flavors,” enough for a different flavor for every day of the month.
Even though there seems to be a flavor for everybody these days, certain palate-pleasers remain more popular than others.
According to an August 2019 survey conducted by ProdegeMR, a provider of people-driven insights for the market research industry, chocolate was consumers’ preferred ice cream flavor in Canada, with 23 percent of survey respondents indicating it was their favorite.
The International Dairy Foods Association indicates that Americans favor a different flavor of ice cream. In the United States, vanilla is the flavor of choice, perhaps because vanilla goes with everything and can enhance so many other desserts and treats.
As popular as vanilla ice cream is, cookies and cream is being scooped up more and more, and is the most popular flavor in 14 different states.