U of C initiative researches concussions and sports injuries in Alberta youth
A Canadian team of University of Calgary specialists are taking their research on the road as they aim to prevent, diagnose and treat concussions.
The newly-created SHRed Mobile is a self-contained vehicle that is stocked with equipment as well as staff and students from the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre (SIPRC).
It'll be rolling through some Alberta cities and towns to form a better understanding of the burden and mechanisms of concussions in young athletes.
SHRed, which stands for Surveillance in High School and Community Sport to Reduce Concussions and Consequences of Concussions in Canadian Youth, set up camp near youth football games Saturday morning.
Dr. Carolyn Emery, an epidemiologist and physiotherapist, is the team lead.
She wants to learn more about concussions and build on injury prevention strategies in communities across Alberta.
"We really want to reduce the burden of concussions in all of these sports," she told CTV News, "to make sure that these kids are still playing sports in their 20s and 30s and can have life-long participation in physical activity."
Inside the SHRed Mobile, research can be conducted on pre-season testing sessions, post-concussing testing, clinical testing, video analysis and usage of wearable technologies.
Staff will also be able to travel throughout Alberta to facilitate discussions with coaches and teachers to help instruct them about concussion and injury prevention.
"About 30 per cent of people (who get a concussion) will have prolonged symptoms, and there's millions of concussions that happen across North America each year," kinesiology associate professor and researcher Jonathan Smirl said. "So if we can help those people out, we can really make a big impact on the overall healthcare system. This is going to be a huge tool for breaking down those barriers and bringing our research to the community."
An estimated, one in 10 youth will sustain a sport-related concussion each year in Alberta and more than 60 per cent of all concussions in youth occur in sport and recreational settings, researchers say. (File)
In order to complete this work, SIPRC is actively recruiting youth who participate in a set of specific sports or who have suffered a concussion as a result of a sports injury.
The sports include:
- Football;
- Rugby;
- Ice hockey;
- Ringette;
- Sledge hockey;
- Soccer;
- Basketball;
- Wheelchair basketball;
- Volleyball;
- Lacrosse;
- Cheerleading;
- Acrobatic and street-style dance and;
- Wrestling.
Athletes are encouraged to sign up for the study through the SIPRC's website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.