HJBR Jul/Aug 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  JUL / AUG 2021 31 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com programming, mass media, and social media. Capital Area Human Services offers mental health, addiction recovery, and developmental disability services in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. Prevention Services is located at the Capital Area Human Services North Baton Rouge Behavioral Health Clinic in the Medical Office Building, 7855 Howell Blvd., second floor. The agency website is realhelpbr.com . Number of Child Drownings in Louisiana Increases in 2020 After five consecutive years of decreasing child drownings in Louisiana, 2020 was one of the deadliest in recent history. Louisiana expe- rienced a 60% increase in the number of infant and child drownings (ages 0-14), from 15 in 2019 to 24 in 2020. As warmer weather arrives, it is important for parents and families to stay aware of the precautions they can take to prevent child drownings. “Water safety and drowning prevention efforts remain as important as ever, especially as fami- lies return to water activities at pools, lakes and beaches,” said Joseph Kanter, MD, state health officer. “Louisiana’s latest numbers confirm that most child drownings occur in the warmer months and among children ages one-four. This year, I urge everyone to take critical steps to reverse the upward trend in fatal child drownings.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data from 2017-19 show that Louisiana has the fourth highest drowning rate for children one to 14 years in the United States, and drowning remains the third leading cause of death for Lou- isiana children in this age group. Families can take several important precautions: • Watch children when they are in or around water at all times; avoid getting distracted. • Teach children how to swim. • If you own a pool or spa, install layers of protection, including a four-sided fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate. • Keep children away from pool drains, pipes, and other openings to avoid entrapments. • Wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket when boating or participating in other water activities. “Parents and guardians can also prepare for potential emergencies by taking a CPR training class and learning basic water rescue skills,” said Kanter. Visit cpr.heart.org for a training center in your area. The Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public Health, Bureau of Family Health leads the Louisiana Child Death Review Panel, which reviews unexpected child deaths in order to reduce future injury and deaths. Child drown- ing prevention is a priority for the Child Death Review Panel. The Bureau of Family Health has secured Consumer Product Safety Commission Pool Safely grant funds to prevent child drown- ings and drain entrapments in pools and spas, and is working with community partners to pro- vide swim lessons, water safety education, and training for pool contractors and inspectors. Through these programs, and by follow- ing water safety tips and sharing ready-to-use resources, we can help prevent drownings among Louisiana children and youth. PoolSafely.gov has brochures, Water Watcher cards, fact sheets, social media tools, videos, and much more to help spread the word. Tara Jarreau, MD, Announced as NewLead of Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center’s Cardio-Oncology Clinic Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Can- cer Center recently announced Tara Jarreau, MD, FACC, as the new lead of its specialized cardio- oncology clinic. The clinic, which works in coor- dination with Our Lady of the Lake’s Heart & Vas- cular Institute, helps assess any heart issues a patient may have prior to cancer diagnosis, as well as any side effects that can occur during and following chemotherapy and radiation. Through screening and monitoring, patients’ cardiac needs are addressed, allowing the clinic team, in coordination with the patient’s oncologist, to prevent and proactively manage any heart con- ditions that may arise. Jarreau received a Bachelor of Science degree in 2002 from Louisiana State University and earned a medical degree in 2006. She completed an internship at Newark Beth Israel Medical Cen- ter in New Jersey and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Science Center in New Orleans. Following the residency, she completed a fellowship pro- gram in cardiovascular disease at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans. Jarreau joined Louisiana Cardiology Associates in 2012 and is currently on the teaching faculty of LSU’s Internal Medicine Residency Program. She has also served as the director of the cardiac MRI program at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Med- ical Center since 2013. She is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Car- diovascular Disease and Internal Medicine and also holds board certification in echocardiogra- phy and is a registered physician in vascular inter- pretation. She is a diplomat of the National Board of Echocardiographers and is a member of the American College of Cardiology, American Col- lege of Physicians, the American Society of Echo- cardiographers, the Society of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and Women in Cardiology. “We are excited for Dr. Jarreau to lead and fur- ther our specialized cardio-oncology clinic that Latraiel Courtney, MHA Tara Jarreau, MD, FACC