Preston was guest speaker at EST Business morning meeting
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston had a lot to tell the morning breakfast crowd at Pinewood Country Club when the East St. Tammany Business Alliance had its monthly get together.
But it was almost as noteworthy to consider what he didn’t talk about.
For over a year-and-a-half the parish coroner has had to give updated COVID numbers and hospitalizations almost everywhere he has gone. But thankfully with the infection numbers continuing to decline, Preston barely mentioned the word “COVID,” and was able to talk about a host of outstanding programs from his office, and able to talk to a crowd that wasn’t wearing any masks.
Preston has been the parish coroner since 2014 after a friend asked him to run for the vacant position following a career as an emergency room teacher and physician, along with opening his local clinic, Doctors Urgent Care, with partner Dr. Wade Estopinal.
Since his first election win, a bit of a surprise to him since he had never ventured into public office, he has been re-elected twice and had no controversy to speak of at his office. Quite the contrary, Preston has turned the St. Tammany Coroner’s Office into a model for other parishes around the state since the local office does much more than answer death calls.
“Most people think that’s all we do, show up when someone dies,” Preston said. “But it’s actually just one phase of our operation.”
The Coroner’s Office is also responsible to handle sexual assault investigations and mental health situations, besides operating the only private parish DNA lab in the state. Then beyond those things the office has started a number of impressive public programs that are addressing community needs.
Most recently was the Cribs for Kids program started by Training Coordinator Chris Knoblauch, the Chaplain’s program that offers spiritual comfort at any death situation, a pool safety program, carbon monoxide program, and the newest one called “Own it, respect it, secure it,” which teaches gun safety and the importance of having locks on guns.
“Studies show that if a gun has a lock on it forces someone to take a few extra moments to unlock it, and in the case of someone who thinks ‘I can’t take this another day’ and is contemplating suicide, those few seconds can make them change their mind,” Preston noted.
The Cribs for Kids program continues to ramp up since starting early in 2021 and teaches parents the proper way to put their baby to sleep. Preston said there are approximately 3,500 baby deaths a year that used to be considered Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), however, research found that the vast majority of those deaths were from a baby being put to sleep improperly, and then having their air cut off.
Preston said there were five such deaths like that in St. Tammany last year, and all were due to co-sleeping when parents wanted to help the baby get to sleep, so they brought the baby to bed with them, or fell asleep holding them in a chair.
“The parent wakes up and finds the baby with its head under their arm, or their head tilted so much it cuts off the airway, which is extremely tiny on a baby,” he said.
Cribs for Kids has now taught the short program to over 2,000 parents and also is raising private dollars to purchase Pack-N-Play cribs that they give away to parents in need. To date they have given away over 100 cribs. You can sign up for the program at the Coroner’s Office, and now watch it virtually by going to their website.
“Another thing parents don’t realize is that a baby must have nothing in the crib with them,” he said. “We’ve answered death calls and saw a crib full of toys and blankets, and a baby can easily suffocate with those things around.”
Preston talked about the DNA lab at his office, the only private one in the state that can provide local results in as little as 72 hours.
“Other parishes all have to go to the State Police crime lab where DNA results can take between 12 to 18 months to obtain,” he said.
Other law enforcement agencies around the state now come to St. Tammany to get DNA results, helping the parish earn a few dollars for their department.
“The great thing about DNA evidence is that it cuts both ways. It can prove guilt, but it can also exonerate,” he noted. “And that’s all law enforcement wants—to know the wrong person isn’t going to jail.”
Preston has been a key supporter of the drive to open the Safe Haven campus in Mandeville, a comprehensive center for mental health treatment, including the recently opened Crisis Receiving Center, a 24/7 center anyone can go to without an appointment in the event of a mental health crisis. He also has changed the rules in the parish where no evaluation for commitment can be done by any health care provider other than a psychiatrist, not to mention the fact he also has hired on staff an individual to follow up with patients to ensure they stay on their meds and make their doctor visits.
“One of the biggest problems for those with mental health issues is that once they start feeling better, they think they don’t need their meds,” he said. “Or they don’t stay current with their doctor. But we are addressing that with someone who follows up with them.”
“We are trying to help people get better, so we don’t keep going to the same addresses over-and-over for mental health calls,” he said. “And the Crisis Center is a good step in that direction.”
Preston ended his talk discussing the Chaplain’s program that he started with the help of local pastors. Now there is a varied mix of denominations and spiritual ministers who are ready to go out on any death call.
“We don’t worry about a priest going to see a Catholic or anything like that,” he said. “We recently had a Jewish person die and the chaplain ended up being a black, Baptist man. I was told that within minutes he was holding hands with family members and praying. We’ve had nothing but great reports about how much they are helping.”
The coroner also mentioned the continued fight with drug overdoses in the parish, especially since he explained “in China they are now pressing Fentanyl, a very powerful, deadly drug, into many other pills such as Oxycontin, Adderall or other things. We had a recent call where a man got a pill, thinking it was Oxycontin and after he crushed it up and snorted it, sat down on the couch with a beer. His wife found him dead the next morning and the toxicology report showed nothing but Fentanyl in him.
“We are trying to get the word out that any one pill you buy on the streets now can kill you. If it doesn’t come from a pharmacy, don’t take it,” he added.