Meet Ron Abrew ATC
Ron Abrew has been the Head Athletic Trainer and Sports Medicine Instructor at Las Lomas High School since August of 2000. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from CSU Hayward in Kinesiology and completed the Graduate curriculum at San Jose State University in Human Performance each with an emphasis in Athletic Training.
Mr. Abrew has been certified by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association for over 25 years. He has worked with athletes at every level, from various youth sports to professional football and hockey. In other words, you are in good hands. He subscribes to the thinking that a diversified program of prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation will assure a positive healthy experience, safe return to athletic participation, and continued athletic success for the student-athlete.
He is readily available to speak with student-athletes regarding their injuries. He strives to provide every student-athlete with the highest quality individual sports medicine health care available in a professional, efficient, and compassionate manner.
Mr. Abrew teaches Sports Medicine classes at Las Lomas and is passionate about sharing his knowledge and experiences on his chosen profession.
He can be seen regularly on the sidelines at Las Lomas athletic activities. If you spot him around campus or riding on his electric cart, make sure to say Hi!.
What is athletic training?
Athletic training encompasses the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of emergent, acute or chronic injuries and medical conditions. Athletic training is recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA), Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an allied health care profession.
Athletic trainers (ATs) are highly qualified, multi-skilled health care professionals who collaborate with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions. Athletic trainers improve functional outcomes and specialize in patient education to prevent injury and re-injury. Preventative care provided by an athletic trainer is a worthwhile treatment for athletes. ATs are able to reduce injury and shorten rehabilitation time for their patients, which translates to lower absenteeism from school and reduced health care costs.
If you are a current high school student and interested in this profession, you can follow these links for additional reading: Becoming an AT, Profile of Athletic Trainers and Who is Taking Care of Your Athletes?
Concussions
The Acalanes High School District has implemented an innovative program that relies on our Athletic Trainer to work with our student athletes in evaluating and treating head injuries (e.g., concussions).
The district has purchased a software tool called ImPACT (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing). ImPACT is a computerized exam utilized in many professional, collegiate, and high school sports programs across the country to successfully diagnose and manage concussions. If an athlete is believed to have suffered a head injury during competition, ImPACT is used initially to help determine the severity of the head injury and subsequently to confirm that the injury has fully healed.
The computerized exam is given to athletes before beginning contact sport practice or competition. This non-invasive test is set up in “video-game” type format and takes 15-20 minutes to complete. Essentially, the ImPACT test is a pre-impact physical of the brain. It tracks information such as memory, reaction time, speed, and concentration. The ImPACT servers are certified as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) compliant and we monitor the students and their privacy as they take the tests.
If a concussion is suspected, the athlete will re-take the test and the results will be provided by the Athletic Trainer to the athlete’s family. The information gathered can also be shared with your family doctor, in addition to a doctor in the area with ImPACT certification. The test data will assist these health professionals in determining when return-to-play is appropriate and safe for the injured athlete. If an injury of this nature occurs to your child, you will be promptly contacted with the details.
There is a wealth of information on the ImPACT website, including the parent information page and the parent resources page. The ImPACT program is also the only FDA approved concussion assessment tool for ages 5-59 and is backed by extensive research.