With all the news about concussions and football players, it is becoming harder for parents to justify letting their children play football. It is a dangerous sport and multiple hits to the head can have long term effects on a child. It can even be hard for a coach or parent to tell if a player has a concussion because symptoms might not be present immediately after an impact, but will develop later. Riddell, the supplier of helmets to the National Football League (NFL), created technology in 2014 called the Insite Impact Response System to help coaches determine if a hit was hard enough to cause a concussion by using sensors to measure a hit and comparing it to the top five percent of all hits in its database. Information would then be sent to the coach in real time so the coach could respond appropriately.
In 2018, Riddell improved its helmet technology and released the Insite Training Tool (ITT). ITT first measures impact severity and location, and then compares that data to all previous recorded impacts, rather than just the top five percent. The information is then sent to the coach in real time so the coach has enough information to make an informed decision to take the player out of the game if needed. Riddell has more than five million hits in its database to be compared to, which helps the coach make an accurate assessment of each player.
With this new technology, Riddell is making football a safer sport for players of all ages. Instead of continuing to let someone play with a significant brain injury, the coach can remove a player and send him to a proper medical professional for help. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and NFL could even use this technology to monitor all players on a team to ensure they are healthy before playing again. A hit to the head can be measured and a player can be removed from the game promptly until the team knows it is safe for him to return. If this new technology was to be adopted by major organizations like the NFL and NCAA, it could lend legitimacy to the technology and make it more widely adopted by high schools around the country.
Traumatic brain injuries and concussions can be a scary situation for all involved and at Goldberg, Persky & White, P.C. we are dedicated to helping people suffering from these injuries. If you feel like you need help to file a claim or would like to speak with one of our lawyers, all you have to do is fill out our contact form or call us at 412-471-3980.
Source:
Booton, Jen ,“Riddell Adds Head-Injury Analytics to Smart Helmet ” Sport Techie (May 16, 2018). [Link]
