In the United States, more than 4,000 people on average die from unintentional drowning each year. Drowning prevention strategies can prevent these tragedies from occurring, but knowledge gaps exist in fatal and nonfatal drowning data and understanding how to effectively implement interventions. The CDC Foundation is working in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Health to provide a term-limited, one year position within the Louisiana Department of Health to identify opportunities to strengthen drowning data collection and surveillance and describe burden and circumstances of drowning in Louisiana.

The Epidemiologist will support the independent design, development, and implementation of epidemiological surveillance, research, evaluation, and dissemination to support drowning prevention activities. Under this project, the Epidemiologist will serve as a focal point to identify additional sources of drowning data, validate sources, collect detailed information on the circumstances of drowning from these sources, and collate this along with existing data to report on the burden and circumstances of fatal and nonfatal drowning.

The Epidemiologist will work under the general direction of the Bureau of Family Health within the Louisiana Department of Health and work closely with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

The Epidemiologist may be asked to travel (5%) to support to project objectives, as necessary.