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Concussion Safety

NOCSAE and Helmet Sensors: An Ounce Of Prevention

There is still confusion about the recent position, or should I say positions, taken by NOCSAE over the past month, first deciding that the certification of any helmet with a third-party add-on would be viewed as automatically void, then, this past week, making a 180-degree U-turn and leaving it up to the helmet manufacturers to decide whether affixing impact sensors to the inside or outside of a helmet voided the certification.  Unless you read my article on NOCSAE's original decision and Lindsay Barton's this past week on its clarification, and perhaps even if you did, you are probably scratching your head and wondering what the heck is going on!

Well, I am scratching my head, too.

With all the controversy surrounding NOCSAE's recent rulings on the effect of third-party add-ons on helmet certification, what Brooke de Lench and others are wondering is why NOCSAE isn't asking the helmet manufacturers to explain to them and the rest of us how a 2-ounce piece of plastic stuck to a 4+ pound football helmet has them so worried?  Whether the NOCSAE rulings were intended to put the brakes on the market for helmet sensors to give the helmet manufacturers time to catch up, it is hard to see how it won't have exactly that effect, she says.

Impact Sensors: Brain Sentry

Brain Sentry was founded by a team of award-winning product developers with backgrounds in aerospace, medical products and sports.The result of Brain Sentry's efforts has been the development of an innovative helmet-mounted device that alerts when an athlete suffers a potentially dangerous impact. We help coaches, parents and safety monitors identify players that should be evaluated for a concussion.

NOCSAE Voiding of Certification For Sensor-Equipped Helmets: A Big Blow To Player Safety

Last week many of the technology manufacturers who have been working diligently to produce products to make helmeted sports such as football safer were dealt a severe, if not crippling, blow by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) when, out of the blue, it decided to view modification of helmets with third-party after-market add-ons as voiding its certification, which could only be regained if the helmet is retested with the add-on. Newcastle Racers wearing three different football helmets

Brooke de Lench believes that the new NOCSAE ruling voiding the certification for sensor-equipped helmets could not have come at a worse time, just as football - from the youth level to the NFL - is gearing up for the 2012 season. If not reversed or modified, de Lench fears that it will have harsh real-world consequences; not just on sensor manufacturers but on player safety and consumer choice.

Underreporting of Concussion By High School Athletes Continues Despite Increased Education

As many as four out of ten of possible concussions sustained by high school athletes are never reported to a coach or medical professional, with less than one in seven  'bell-ringers' being reported, finds an important new study.

Type, Age, Reconditioning History Do Not Affect Concussion Risk, Study Finds

The risk of sustaining a concussion in high school football is not effected by the brand, age or recondition status of the helmet, nor by the type of mouth guard worn, says a new study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine finds.

2013 STAR Helmet Ratings: NOCSAE Urges Results Be Viewed With Caution

NOCSAE warns parents, players, coaches, and administrators to consider the limitations in Virginia Tech's STAR ratings for football helmets and not to overemphasize the role helmets play in protecting against concussions at the expense of focusing attention on other steps that have a more immediate and much greater impact on concussion reduction.

TGen and Riddell To Partner In Biomarker Study of Concussive Injuries

In a move that could help revolutionize football player safety, the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), and Riddell have announced plans for a joint research study designed to advance athlete concussion detection and treatment, guide development of new football headgear and further refine updates to player monitoring technology.

Impact Sensors: Riddell InSite Impact Response System

The Riddell InSite Impact Response System is a new integrated monitoring and alerting tool designed specifically for the proactive protection of football players based on its Head Impact Telemetry System (HITS) and Sideline Response System (SRS) which have analyzed nearly 1.8+ million impacts since 2003.

Impact Sensors: i1 Biometrics Vector Mouthguard

With a focus on cutting edge technology for the sports market, i1 Biometrics is tackling the head injury epidemic, head on. Our state-of-the-art Vector Mouthguard can instantly track and tally the cumulative forces of collisions as they happen during all levels of competition.

Watching "The Smartest Team" Documentary: A 3-Day Test of Endurance, But Worth The Effort

I was thrilled to get my copy of "The Smartest Team." This great documentary is the creation of MomsTEAM founder Brooke de Lench, who clearly has a great interest in concussion prevention in sports - especially football. Having had a concussion as a child, I know all too well about the pain, the setbacks, and the long road it sometimes take to recovery. I had to relearn the multiplication tables for 6s and 7s in 5th grade! I was mortified. To this day I have trouble with 6x8=48!Gretchen Rose and son

A football mom from Texas was thrilled to get her copy of "The Smartest Team" and couldn't wait to watch it with her son and his football buddies. While the short attention span of 12-year-old boys meant that it would end up being a three-day test of endurance, it proved to be a very educational experience.
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