Visitor Injury Data Collection Internship

Apply Now.
Please include position ID #: PO-00120327

Visitor Injury Data Collection Internship:

NPS Yosemite National Park, California, known worldwide for its spectacular natural beauty is the location for this position; the park embraces a spectacular tract of mountain and valley scenery in the Sierra Nevada and harbors a grand collection of waterfalls, meadows, and forest that include groves of giant sequoias, the world's largest living things.

The park covers 1,182 square miles of varied wilderness ecosystems, from river valleys to alpine meadows to lofty 13,000 foot high peaks. Yosemite Valley is located 208 miles from San Francisco, 81 miles from Merced, and 94 miles from Fresno. Shopping, dental, medical, postal and laundry services are available in the park. Elevation at the Valley Floor is approximately 4,000 feet. The park is open year-round with the majority of activities occurring during the busy season March through October.

The National Park Service is committed to reducing the number of unintentional injuries among our visitors. The purpose of this internship is to collect, input, and analyze visitor injury data in order to develop effective injury prevention strategies.

With support and guidance from Yosemite staff and the Public Risk Management Program (PRMP) staff at NPS Headquarters, the intern will:

1. Work with the Yosemite Preventive Search and Rescue program to collect Visitor Injury data both in the field and possibly in a clinical setting.
2. Enter data into a designated database and assist in data analysis.
3. Assist in identifying trends in causes of visitor injury and development of safety messaging and trail mitigation based on data collection and analysis.

In order to gain an understanding of the needs of the park as well as past, current, and/or planned visitor safety programs, the intern will also:

1. Review existing forms of risk communication
2. Review park safety messaging and/or other visitor safety policies and guidelines, and
3. Observe visitor behavior on trails
4. Based on the data analyses, observations in the park and discussions with Yosemite staff, at the end of the internship, the intern will produce a presentation or final paper highlighting findings and suggested next steps.

Training Opportunities: The intern will attend an intensive, highly specialized, weeklong training program held on June 4-8, 2012. The program will include didactic and active sessions on topics including overview of NPS, injury epidemiology, data collection, wilderness medical essentials, and risk communication. In addition, at the park, the intern will receive Preventive Search and Rescue Field Training and Introduction to Interpretive Basics Training. CE's will be available for EMT-Basics, WFR's and above. And there is a potential for some basic rescue training depending on schedule.

Required Qualifications:

• Interns must have excellent analytic skills, be highly organized, and be able to take initiative and work independently.
• Interns should be skilled at synthesizing data and information into a well-written document.
• They should have a comprehensive understanding of and interest in injury epidemiology and public health.
• Interns must be proficient in Microsoft Excel, Word, and Power Point.
• Intern must be physically fit and able to hike in rugged terrain and remain self-sufficient in inclement weather and hot conditions.
• Intern must be comfortable approaching and talking to park visitors and capable of communicating the NPS and Yosemite PSAR mission.
• Intern must be able to complete HIPAA training previous to handling patient information

Desired Qualifications:

• Preferably intern is 21 years of age.
• GIS experience is a plus
• First aid or higher medical training is a plus
• Preferable intern will be able to provide basic personal outdoor equipment

Housing Location: Yosemite

Position Code (PO): PO-00120327

Organization: Government

Agency: National Park Service

State: California

Start Date: Mon, 06/09/2012
End Date: Sun, 09/07/2012

Apply Now.
Please include position ID #: PO-00120327

This internship is part of the NPS Risk Management Internship Program.