Our guest today is Alejandra Merriman, Sports Medicine Instructor and Clinician at Dorsey High School in South Central Los Angeles. In this episode we discuss the lack of access to Athletic Trainers in Los Angeles (LA) and its implications to the health of athletes in underserved communities of LA.

Show Notes

1. Latinx Athletic Trainers
2. Access to ATs in CA
3. CA has the second largest number of athletes of any state, with 40% of those athletes at schools without an AT or with another healthcare provider5
4. % number of students eligible for free lunch (criteria applied for national school lunch program, submitting household income forms, student homeless/migrant status)
5. Roughly 90 high schools in LAUSD with sports
6. 6 of them have an ATC
7. 42 high schools have 90+ % of students that are eligible for free lunch
8. Basically, the other 40+ schools have 50% of their student body eligible for free lunch
9. Actions items for ATs to walk away with from this discussion
10. Participate in CATA upcoming virtual hit the hill
11. If you have relationships with LAUSD athletic directors, have a conversation: AT Last can guide you with this
12. Contact AT Last for questions collaboration
13. References
14. McLeod TCV, Cardenas JF. Emergency preparedness of secondary school athletic programs in Arizona. Journal of Athletic Training. 2019;54(2):133-141.
15. Johnson ST, Norcross MF, Bovbjerg VE, Hoffman MA, Chang E, Koester MC. Sports-related emergency preparedness in oregon high schools. Sports Health. 2017;9(2):181-184.
16. Post E, Winterstein AP, Hetzel SJ, Lutes B, McGuine TA. School and community socioeconomic status and access to athletic trainer services in wisconsin secondary schools. Journal of Athletic Training. 2019;54(2):177-181.
17. Kroshus E, Rivara FP, Whitlock KB, Herring SA, Chrisman SPD. Disparities in athletic trainer staffing in secondary school sport: implications for concussion identification. Clin J Sport Med. 2017;27(6):542-547.
18. Post EG, Roos KG, Rivas S, Kasamatsu TM, Bennett J. Access to athletic trainer services in california secondary schools. Journal of Athletic Training. 2019;54(12):1229-1236.
19. Adler NE, Newman K. Socioeconomic disparities in health: pathways and policies. Health Affairs. 2002;21(2):60-76.
20. Reback R. Investments in students’ physical and mental health inCalifornia’s public schools. Getting Down to Facts II Web site.https://gettingdowntofacts.com/publications/investments-studentsphysical-and-mental-health-californias-public-schools. Published2018. Accessed September 4, 2019.
21. Simon JE, Wikstrom EA, Grooms DR, Docherty CL, Dompier TP, Kerr ZY. Athletic training service characteristics for patients with ankle sprains sustained during high school athletics. Journal of Athletic Training. 2019;54(6):676-683.
22. Adams WM, Scarneo SE, Casa DJ. State-level implementation of health and safety policies to prevent sudden death and catastrophic injuries within secondary school athletics. Orthop J Sports Med. 2017;5(9):2325967117727262.
23. Contact/Support/Questions/Comments
24. How to contact the initiative to support, collaborate, ask questions:
25. Email: atlast@atvantagepodcasts.com
26. GoFundMe
27. https://www.gofundme.com/f/increasing-diversity-in-athletic-training
28. CATA virtual symposium 2021
29. Registration link: https://cvent.me/vvQyay
30. Guest Contact info
31. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandra-merriman-dat-atc-ces-56196787/
32. LatinxATs
33. Twitter: @LatinxATs
34. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/500517684009280/
35. Instagram: @LatinxATs
36. Gratitude and Blessings
37. Artwork by Jason Eisenberg
38. Instagram: @dots_and_squares
39. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoneisenberg00/
40. Intro/Outro music by Willie B the Ichiban Don
41. Instagram: @ichibandon
42. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-brown-25945b168/
43. Production / Engineering / Editing / Content Creation
44. Joseph “J Pash” Patrick
45. Website: https://www.passionnetpro.com/
46. Twitter: @passionnetpro
47. Instagram: @passionnetpro
48. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/passionnetpro/
49. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/passionnetpro/
50. Gerson Sandoval
51. Instagram: @thesoundarchitects
52. Websites: 
53. https://thesoundarchitects.com/
54. https://soundbetter.com/profiles/347950-the-sound-architects